Don't Judge a Book by its Cover
by dontjudgeabookbyitscover15
Summary: Kairi is in her Sophomore Year at Strife Academy, and finds out this boy has gone to their school since ninth grade, and she was just now finding out about him! Why was he so quiet? Kairi had to find out, of course. This story was inspired by Jomatto's Hotel Hearts, only by a little bit though. Rated M for some language. Enjoy!
1. Her Name was Kairi

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Mind-blowing, right?

Chapter 1

The sun was shining, reminding her that summer had just ended.

And so it begins, she supposed, the prison of torturous boredom and hours of sanity testing vibes was taunting at Kairi right there. She called it _hell, _but other people she knew call it _school. _And here she was, ready for Sophomore year.

Strife Academy. The name itself made her want to vomit. It was a school named after some 'brave' warrior years ago. To be honest, she didn't even think it was that bad of a school. It's just the fact that she had to get up this early at all is what really pissed her off. Seven freaking thirty is call time on the first day, and school didn't even start for a half hour.

It's not like they'd even be doing anything interesting either. All they were going to do is get a bunch of papers about rules that have "No shit" stamped on it in her head. Plus, the teachers will be talking about it too, as if they couldn't just read what they typed up. It's basically a waste of paper.

Yeah, this is hell. Kairi's not a morning person, either. There's only a select few she allowed to even associate herself with before eight thirty. But if you're not one of those people, and especially if you're just some boy who's going to try to "put the moves" on her and think you're gonna get some, don't even fucking talk to her.

"Kairi!" the girl heard her name being called.

Kairi turned around and yep, it's Selphie. Kairi's best friend. She's your typical hyper-active 'all I ever think about is boys boys boys' giddy girl.

If Kairi were to allow anybody to annoy her in the morning, it'd be her. She loves her.

Kairi and Selphie were actually very similar in personality. Kairi's not as random or hyper as Selphie, but when she starts moving around and waking up a little more, she ends up being in a good mood. It's just in the morning when Kairi gives no fucks.

"Kairi, I'm so glad you came back this year!" Selphie said as they hugged.

Kairi shrugged. She's not too big a talker in the morning.

"Where's your sister?" Selphie asked Kairi.

"She transferred." Kairi answered. Her twin sister, Namine, used to attend school with her, but this school is an arts school, and she guessed Namine got tired of the obnoxious singers and snobby drama majors, so she left. Which Kairi could totally understand.

"Aw," Selphie whined. But she perked back up again and linked her arm with Kairi's. "Oh well! At least we still got each other!"

Kairi rolled her eyes. How can someone be so...what's the word, _awake_, in the morning?

They walked into their school, Strife Academy, and made their way up to a lady by the desk, who's handing out schedules.

They compared schedules and had about two of seven classes together. That sucks, Kairi guessed, but the fact that they had lunch together made up for it. However, they did have first period together, so they might as well had head up there and start this day of shear boredom.

As they headed up to the fourth floor, the two 'besties' were induced in small talk about their summer vacations.

"Hey, you guys!"

The two turned around to spot the familiar voice, and found Olette running to them, dragging her boyfriend, Hayner along with her.

Olette was your typical goody two-shoes with an occasional short temper. How she fell for a lump on a log like _Hayner_, was beyond Kairi.

She immediately ran up to Selphie and gave her a hug. "I'm so glad to see you two!"

She gave Kairi a hug as well, while Selphie and Hayner scowled at one another.

"Hayner."

"Selphie."

The two of them had beef since freshman year. Selphie always thought of Hayner as a lazy little rat while Hayner always saw Selphie as a hyperactive bitch.

"O-M-G," Olette began, "you have got to hear about my summer later on!"

Kairi gave her a fake smile, really wanting to whack this girl right in the throat if she didn't settle down. Kairi was not in the mood.

"Sure," Kairi responded with gritted teeth.

Soon, someone tapped Kairi's shoulder. Kairi turned around to come face-to-face with Riku. Kairi became a lot less annoyed really fast, coming into contact with her best guy friend, the acclaimed hottest boy in school.

(I don't feel like explaining what Riku fucking looks like. Its likely most you already know what he looks like anyway, if not, just look him on Google Images or something. And goes for every character in this.)

"Hey, Kairi," Riku said with a grin.

"Hey," she said back with a smile.

Just about every girl, besides Kairi, in the school has some feelings for Riku. If they don't, then they at least used to. He even had his own fan club held by girls, with an exception of one or two dudes.

Selphie gave him a big cheesy smile, "Hi, Riku!" Selphie was one of Riku's admirers.

"Hey," he shot back, annoyed.

Riku hated clingy fan girls like Selphie. They were utterly distasteful in his mind. Riku didn't like the overwhelming attention by girls who were willing to give him anything he wanted, from simple jewelry to their own virginity, which Riku respectfully declined, of course.

Most of the other boys in the school thought he was insane. To be treated like a celebrity even though you're not a celebrity, to be popular without having to do anything, that was the High School dream, wasn't it? Well, step inside Riku's shoes and it won't be what it's cracked up to be.

Riku's always had a thing for Kairi, though. She's one of the very few people who treated him like a normal human being instead of a god. She talked to him casually, she didn't make dumb excuses to touch his muscles, and she didn't hesitate to tell him whenever he was being an idiot. It probably had something to do with the fact that he and Kairi had been childhood friends.

What's the rule about childhood friends of opposite sexes? _Someone's_ gonna dig the other by the time the hormones kick in.

"Anyway, Kairi, what class you got this bell?"

Kairi handed him her schedule, to which he looked over to see if hers were anything like his, unlike the depressing reality of last year, with him only having one class with her.

But this year was a different story, now he had four classes with her, plus lunch. Maybe this year he could finally get Kairi to be his girlfriend, he had been longing to do so for a long time.

"Come on, lemme walk you to class, then," Riku smirked.

Kairi shrugged as she walked with her friend. She was kind of distracted at the moment, trying to find Tidus and Wakka, the schools star athletes. She hoped she had classes with them, they were the class clowns of the school as well, which Kairi loved the entertainment value.

Selphie came in between Riku and Kairi, locking her arms with them. She was oblivious to the fact that Riku thought she was annoying. Hell, she was oblivious to the fact that even _Kairi _found her annoying. But Kairi just had a bigger tolerance for Selphie than Riku.

"Don't forget about me, guys!" the brunette gave Riku a seductive look, "Especially you, Riku," she winked.

Riku just groaned, but softened up when Kairi giggled at his response. That giggle could make any man want to faint, even Mr. Macho himself.

While Riku was the hottest guy in school, Kairi was known as the hottest girl in school. Well, she at least was going to be this year, inevitably. She was known as the second hottest girl last year, only second to her sister, Namine. Sure, they looked identical, but people must have just preferred blonde.

With Namine gone, however, Kairi was at the top of every single, horny boys list. But Riku was determined to beat them to the punch. Nobody was to stand in his way, and if there were, asses were to be kicked.

They finally got to their first period class, where there were already a couple students engaged in small talk, waiting for class to start. The trio decided to take their seats.

Kairi sat somewhere in the middle, with Selphie by her right, with Riku sitting in front of her. Kairi sighed as she leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes.

"I could get used to this..." said red-head. Kairi peered an eye open and saw a boy sitting in his seat by the large window.

He had spiky hair that went all over the place with his jacket hood hovered over his head. He looked miserable, and nobody was talking to him, his existence wasn't acknowledged by anybody.

This must have been a new kid, but Kairi had never seen someone look so lonely before.

"Who's that boy over there?" Kairi asked, pointing at the lonely boy.

Selphie closed her mirror and gave Kairi her attention. She noticed who she was looking at, and felt a little disappointed when she saw who Kairi was looking at. She thought it was gonna be some cute boy. "Oh, him? He's just some quiet kid who goes here. Nothing too interesting about him. I can never for the life of me remember his name."

Kairi looked at Selphie with a look of disbelief, "You mean, he's not new?" she asked.

Selphie returned the look, "He's been going here since ninth grade. You must not have had any classes with him."

Wow, and Kairi thought she knew everyone in her class. "But you don't know his name?"

"Sorry," Selphie responded, uninterested with a conversation about a boy who she didn't even consider cute.

Kairi looked at Riku for answers, and even _he _didn't know, responding with a shrug. Kairi was at a loss, he just looked so cast off. "What's wrong with him? He looks kind of sad, don't you think?"

Selphie gave Kairi a blank stare, "He's always like that. I remember him back in Destiny Elementary School. From what I remember, he was a pretty cool kid, the class clown even, everybody liked him. But over time, he just didn't talk as much. Nobody speaks to him anymore."

Kairi raises an eyebrow. "Did it ever occur to you to maybe ask him what was wrong?"

Selphie shrugged, "I figured he probably just wanted to be left alone."

Kairi felt disappointed in her best friend. She always thought of Selphie as the type to help those who seemed troubled, but she brushed this poor kid off like it was nothing. Kairi took another look at the boy, who happened to take his hood off for a second and his face was revealed.

Kairi was even more shocked; there was nothing wrong with him! In fact, he was cute enough to rival Riku's hotness, so you'd think he would get a lot of attention.

"He's kind of cute, isn't he?"

Selphie stifled her laughter, "_Him? Seriously?_" Selphie obnoxiously put in, "Okay, he may not be UN-attractive, but I wouldn't put him in my top ten, or even my top twenty for that matter."

Kairi was just baffled at this point. Was she blind? The boy was really handsome. If she didn't know any better, she'd figured he'd have been on one of those girly magazine covers showing off his pearly whites. Why did everyone fail to see his attractiveness?

Sure, he probably didn't have the most attractive expression on his face at the moment, but could you blame him? Everybody thought of him no more then the dirt on the street, why would he be happy? But surely he knows how to smile, no?

Kairi was fed up with this teenage bullshit, and be the mature girl she knew she was. "I'm gonna go say something."

Kairi stood up and began walking, but Riku tugged on her wrist, "I wouldn't recommend that," he warned. "You don't know if he's got anger issues."

"I second that," Selphie chimed in, "What if you get hurt?"

Kairi was pissed off at them now. What were they? Five? Did they think he was some sort of fire breathing dragon? She pulled her arm away from Riku and gave him a scowl, then strutting off to the boy.

Riku and Selphie exchanged looks. This was going to be interesting.

Kairi walked up to the boy, who had put his hood back on and rested back on his desk moments ago. He had no idea someone was within his presence.

Kairi bent over and tapped his shoulder. The boy took his hood off and was already getting a little anxious. Nobody ever came up to him.

The boy looked up to see..._holy crap. _Standing before him was a girl with smooth as silk auburn hair, and makeup that did just enough to bring out her features. She was drop dead _gorgeous..._she was looking at _him _no less. But he wasn't going to let his hopes get the better of him, so he figured she just came over to ask for a pencil or something. That was about the only time anyone ever talked to him for anyway. No girl _that _attractive could be interested in him.

Kairi was just as amazed. He was even hotter up close.

This was not a very common situation for the boy, and he was speechless. She gave him a sympathetic smile. "Hi, there," she said, breaking the silence.

The boy quirked his brows at her, and soon started digging in his bag looking for something. Kairi was feeling awkwardness tense up in her. Was he going to give her something? This was going a little fast, wasn't it?

The boy finally dug out a pencil from his bag and stuck it out for her to take while he looked at the front with lazy eyes. He should have known not to get his hopes up.

"Uh..." Kairi muttered, not knowing what he was trying to do.

"That's what you came for, right?" the boy finally spoke. "For a pencil?"

He had a nice speaking voice. She'll admit that she did think his voice might be a little gruff, low-pitched, and grumpy, but he had a perfectly normal fifteen-year old voice.

She realized what this was all about and lowered the pencil with a smile. "No, no, no, I just came by to say hello. You seemed like you could use someone to talk to."

The boy's eyes widened at this. Nobody ever came to talk to him anymore. Kairi giggled at his expression, making the boy's insides heat up a bit. She had a nice giggle.

"My name is Kairi Lockhart," she introduced. "I noticed you were all alone and seemed sad so I just thought I'd drop by to see if you were okay. So...you okay?" She touched his shoulder.

The boy's face was turning a bright shade of red. This girl was beautiful, nice, and caring. Did he mention she was _beautiful_?

"Uh, I-I," he stuttered. After years of being known as the 'quiet kid' and being utterly ignored, his socialization skills had been deteriorated. What was he supposed to say in a situation like this again? He couldn't remember, but he wasn't going to let this once in a lifetime opportunity pass by!

"Er," he stuttered again. Name! Tell her your name, damn it! "M-my name's Sora Hikari." Sweat. Drop. Released.

"Nice to meet you, Sora. Hold on, one sec," Kairi walked back over to her friends and sat down.

He should have known. He made himself look like a total idiot in front of her. That was his one chance to make a friend, and he blew it. He slouched back onto his desk.

Kairi started gathering her things, receiving weird looks from Riku and Selphie. She slung up her bag over her shoulder and stood up.

"Where are you going?" asked Selphie.

Kairi gave her look, as if it were obvious. "I'm going to go sit by him."

Riku and Selphie were confused, and Sora perked back up after hearing that. Kairi strutted off to the seat next to Sora and plopped down next to him, giving him a comforting smile.

Sora was just as confused as Riku and Selphie. So...he didn't screw up? He wasn't sure what to do but he gave her a weak smile back. He wasn't sure how to handle this.

Riku and Selphie's mouths were ajar. Had they been dumped? For some loser nobody gives a second thought to? They started gathering their things as well, preparing to sit by Kairi and talk some sense into her.

"Now, wait a minute, Kai-" Selphie began, but was soon interrupted when their teacher walked in and slammed the door.

"Don't move," the teacher called out to the students. It was Mr. Sephiroth Newburn, the dullest teacher in the academy, "wherever you are seated right now, will be your permanent seat until I arrange a proper seating chart."

Riku and Selphie sighed as they sat back down in disappointment. Kairi stuck her tongue out at them. She wasn't that mad at them, but they didn't have to know that. Might as well let them suffer a little longer.

"Alright, class," Mr. Newburn spoke so monotone, it could bore even the hyper-active Selphie, who never got bored. She always new how to make something fun, but not in his case. "We're going to go over a few rules."

He started passing out the rubric that talked about rules and guidelines, just like Kairi predicted. Mr. Newburn did the thing that students hated the most, _explaining_, and most of the students sighed or fell asleep from boredom. Which Newburn didn't noticed. He loved hearing that stale voice of his.

Kairi was bored just like everyone else. Sora was sweating bullets. Kairi was sitting next to him, should he say something to her? It's not like Mr. Newburn was going to notice. But what was he going to say? Ask something about her? Maybe he could say something witty about Mr. Newburn to make her laugh. No, no, he wasn't confident enough in his humor. What if the joke was bad and she gave him one of those fake laughs that are so obliviously fake, and are only made out of pity for such a piss poor attempt at-

**RIIIINGG!**

The bell rang. Great, instead of thinking of a way to start a conversation with the beautiful creature known as Kairi, he spent the whole time rambling in his head.

Kairi sighed a sigh of relief and picked up her bag, standing up with Sora. "That was fun, huh?" she asked sarcastically and rhetorically.

"Y-yeah," was his only response. He face palmed himself mentally. Idiot, that was his chance to say something witty and make her giggle.

"Hey, let me see your schedule," she demanded. Sora did as told, and she looked it over, "Whoa," she started. She handed it back to him. "We have five out of seven classes together!"

Sora took his paper back and nodded. Ah! Stupid, be friendly! He was supposed to smile there or say something that said he was glad!

It was too late now. If he smiled now, it'd come off as creepy and random.

"So, I guess I'll be seeing you around," she smiled. She seemed unfazed by Sora's inability to keep up a good conversation. She didn't mind, nor care. She just wanted to find out more about him and make sure he wasn't in some kind of trouble.

They walked out the hall and went their separate ways. They didn't share second period together. Oh well. He was bound to see her again.

In his next class, Sora wasn't even paying attention to what Mrs. Holland was saying, who's first name was Aqua. All the horny boys in the class weren't listening to a word that she was saying as they all pictured fucking her brains out instead. She seemed oblivious to their infatuations.

Sora wasn't paying attention either, but for a totally different reason. He just couldn't get Kairi Lockhart out of his head. What was that all about, anyway? Something was wrong. There's no way a girl would try to befriend him like that unless...unless she was using him.

Years of anti-socialism can create slight paranoia. Sora was aware of that but he didn't care, he was not going to be deceived, and end up having his heart broken. Best he just get rid of those thoughts about their being a possibility of something blooming between him and Kairi, chances are, it's a ruse.

Wasn't it?

Was it all in his head? Who knows? But one thing was for sure.

This was going to be an interesting year.

**A/N: What'd you think? I based Sora's character slightly after myself. I've had to deal with people ignoring my existence before, and I was always too shy to do anything about it, and any time someone did make an effort to talk to me, I'd always mess it up like Sora did, and it'd just ruin my whole day :/. With that in mind, this story came to my head, and I wanted to at least start on it before the inspiration was lost. **

**This was also inspired by Jomatto's Hotel Hearts (which is an AWESOME story btw). **


	2. Annoyance

Chapter 2

Lunch time, the haven of all school days.

The lunch room was noisy and cruel at times, but Sora enjoyed his peace nonetheless. His usual routine at lunch was to sit at a table by himself, eat his food, and listen to his beloved music. Sora _loved _music. He couldn't go a day without it.

Sora sat down at his usual empty table. It was rather dirty, but he couldn't get a good table with all the other kids, so he'd just have to settle for mediocrity.

Kairi had just walked out of the lunch line, being followed by Selphie.

"So, like, what if a banana was actually food sent from the planet bananong? Wouldn't that explain it? There's no way bananas could have been made on earth with a shape like this, it's weird, right?" Selphie was always random.

Kairi couldn't help but giggle, until she saw Sora sitting all by himself.

"Kairi," Kairi looked up to see Selphie was waiting for her to catch up, "come on, girl."

Kairi looked at her usual table. The whole gang was there, Riku, Hayner, Olette, Tidus, Wakka, and Pence. They were all popular, and Kairi was inevitably one of them. But somehow, she found sitting with them unappealing.

Kairi looked at Sora, who was just eating by himself, looking at all the other kids have fun and have actual people to spend time with. Kairi's instincts kicked in once more.

"I'm gonna sit somewhere else, today," she answered to Selphie. She walked over to Sora's table and sat down, leaving Selphie in a state of shock.

Sora, with a mouth full of turkey and mustard sandwich in his mouth, looked at Kairi suspiciously.

"Hi," she greeted, as if this were something normal and daily.

Sora gulped down his sandwich, "Hey," he said. "Um, not trying to sound rude, but why are you sitting with me?"

Kairi looked at him with a raised brow, "Why not? I can't just let you sit here all by yourself like this. You don't mind, do you?"

Sora wasn't in the mood for this, and he wasn't going to let this girl take advantage. A broken heart was just something he wasn't going to allow be of impediment. "I didn't ask you to pity me," he said a little coldly, turning his face to the side.

Kairi wasn't all that fazed, she just chewed on her pasta while looking at him like he were an idiot. She shrugged it off and gulped down her food, "So, what do you like to do?"

Sora turned to her with a frown, it sent shivers down Kairi's spine. "Why the sudden interest?"

Kairi shrugged, "Just trying to start up a conversation."

"Yeah, well, mind your own business."

Wow, this guy sure was a grouch. She expected him to be grateful, but all he's been so far was a pain in the buttocks. She still couldn't blame him, though. If she had been ignored by the public for such a long time, she wouldn't be the brightest of daisies either. "You're a rather rude individual," she said, keeping her respectful tone.

Sora didn't respond, he didn't need annoying girls to tell him what he was. Why did he like her in the first place? She wouldn't give up or leave him alone. Yeah, he still thought she was pretty but his attraction to her had now worn off.

"Hey," Kairi said, pulling him out of his thoughts, "you seem, troubled. You seem to not like me that much," he felt a little guilty after hearing her say that, "but could you tell me what's bothering you?"

Something was bothering him, but she didn't have to know that. It was for him to know, and him only. "It's nothing," he responded, monotone.

Kairi pouted at the lack of an answer she was given. But that wasn't enough to make her quit. "Well, whatever it is, you can tell me whenever you feel like it, okay?"

She began eating her food again, and Sora looked at her like a nut job. Was this bitch mental? Couldn't she take the hint that he was kind of telling her to get lost? Why was he here again?

Sora grabbed his food and put it on his tray. "I gotta go," he said harshly. He threw his half-eaten food away and picked up his bag and left without a word. All that time, he had wished someone would talk to him and try and get to know him, but now that it had happened, he wished it never did.

Maybe he just wasn't ready for friendship, or he wasn't mentally prepared. In any case, he sure did hope that was the last he saw of Kairi.

Kairi was a little sad by the fact that he just left her like that, but it only made her more determined to find out what was wrong with Sora, and how she could help. She only felt more sorry for him.

She ate by herself for the whole period.

Later on, the first day had ended and Sora was sitting on the bench, waiting for the bus to arrive. Sora had been through all of his teachers, and didn't truly _dislike _any of them. Some were annoying, case and point, Mr. Newburn, but none of his teachers were truly agonizing.

Kairi's mom, Tifa Lockhart, was the swim instructor, and he even shared that class with Kairi.

Luckily there was no taking off of the shirt on the first day, he didn't have confidence about his scrawny body.

Sora and Kairi didn't talk much for the rest of the school day, not because they didn't want to or didn't know what to say (well, Sora didn't), but there were no chances given. And even if there were, Sora would have brushed Kairi off anyway.

A broken heart was just something he didn't want to have to deal with. Kairi was too nosy for her own good. Didn't matter how pretty she was, he wasn't going to tell her that the reason why he's so sad is-

"Sora?" he heard a familiar voice say. Sora gulped, he knew that voice. He slowly turned his head to see Kairi Lockhart giving him a smirk. "I didn't know you rode the 42."

Sora groaned as she sat down next to him. "What are you doing here? Doesn't your mom work here? Can't she take you home?"

"Well, she did last year. But this year, she has a ninth bell class to teach. I don't have a ninth bell, and I'm not spending an extra forty-five minutes at school."

"I think you should," Sora said, with distaste in his voice. "That'll make me not have to deal with you."

Kairi scowled. "Why are you such an asshole?"

Sora smirked, maybe he was finally getting into her skin. He leaned back and placed his hands on the back of his head, "That's what you're getting into, still wanna keep going? There's always a chance to turn back," he said with obnoxious confidence.

Kairi couldn't believe how much of a dick he was acting, but that's all it was, an act. Kairi was going to make him open up eventually, she was sure of it. "You think your little insults are enough to faze me? Please, I have a brother, you know."

Damn, she was right. If she had a brother, she probably had to deal with petty mockery all the time. Now what was he to do? In any moment, the bus was going to arrive and she was inevitably going to sit with him, no matter how much he refused.

He could go to another bus stop, but what would the point be in that? He'd just end up on the same bus with her anyways. Sora decided to just sit and wait for the inevitable to happen.

As they waited, Kairi went on and told Sora about her day. Which slightly annoyed Sora, finding that she talked too much, but he'd be lying if he said her story wasn't a little interesting. It was the afternoon, so Kairi was like another Selphie at this point, just not as crazy.

Soon enough, the bus had arrived and the two teens got on. Just as Sora predicted, she sat next to him. But she was done rambling, so he decided to put on his music, staring out the window.

"Where do you live?" Kairi asked.

Sora took out a bud, annoyed. "Do you ever shut up?"

"It's a simple question, no need to get testy."

Sora rolled his eyes, "Fine, I live on Kingdom Key Street. Happy?"

Kairi's eyes widen, "I live on that street, too!"

Sora's eyes widened as well before groaning in frustration. Great, not only was he going to have to deal with her at school, but at home too? He put the bud back in and turned the music up loud so he didn't have to hear her talk.

She had stopped rambling anyway.

Kairi was curious to find out what kind of music he listened to. With that attitude of his, she expected it to most likely be emo goth music.

Kairi leaned over to Sora a little bit to hear the music that was playing inside of his earphones, and was surprised. She didn't hear intense screaming with loud drums and base, instead it was:

_Billie Jean is not my lover_

_She's just a girl who claims that I am the one_

_But, the kid is not my son, woo_

That was unexpected, certainly not what Kairi thought would be the kind of music he'd be into.

Sora felt an odd presence and took his ear buds out, turning to her. "What the hell is your problem?"

"Michael Jackson?" she asked.

Sora scowled at her, "Is there a problem with that?"

Kairi waved her hands defensively. "No, no! It's awesome, actually! I'm a big MJ fan, too, I just didn't expect you to be."

Sora's face softened, she liked Michael Jackson music? Okay, he'll give her a point for being slightly less annoying. "Yeah, a lot of people make fun of him, but I've always thought he was just misunderstood."

"Oh my god, me too," said Kairi. "What's your favorite song by him?"

Sora put a finger to his lip, "That's hard, I like a lot," he pondered a little more. "If I had to choose, I'd say _Smooth Criminal _would be my favorite."

Kairi thought for a second, "Mines would have to be _The Way You Make Me Feel. _That is a sexy ass song."

Sora chuckled. For the first time, he was actually enjoying Kairi's company, a little bit. Not that much, though, no, definitely not that much.

"I like _Man In The Mirror _a lot, too," Sora added. Kairi giggled. Did he say something odd? "What's so funny?"

"Man In the Mirror? Doesn't look like you've been following the song's lyrics too good," Kairi teased.

He takes that back, she's a bitch. He scowls at her as he puts his ear bud back in and looks out the window.

"Oops," Kairi said. Maybe she went a little too far. She almost forgot the fact that Sora still doesn't seem to like her very much, and she wasn't close enough to him to tease him yet.

After a while, Kairi got bored and drifted off to sleep. Sora caught eye of this and started to panic. He's read some of those romance novels, and if he remembered anything about them, it was the cliche' 'falling asleep on the guy's shoulder bit'. Ain't nobody got time for that.

Just as expected, Kairi subconsciously started drifting, drifting, and drifting closer to her left, until she ended up falling onto an empty chair beside her, waking her up immediately. "Huh?"

"Hey," Sora said. Kairi turned around to see him waiting by the door for her with an annoyed look. "Come on, hurry up. This is our stop. And for goodness sake, wipe the drool off your face." Sora walked out.

Kairi wiped the sticky saliva off the corner of her mouth, slightly embarrassed. She quickly got up and left the bus. She saw Sora already twenty feet down the street. Boy, for someone who looked so casual while walking, he sure did walk fast.

"Hey, wait up!" Kairi yelled as she caught up to him. "So, which house is yours?"

Sora didn't answer, even though he could clearly hear her, what with his music not currently barricading his ear drums.

"Fine, asshole, don't answer me," Kairi said as she continued walking.

They silently headed down the street. Walking, walking, walking...walking...walking...where the hell was Kairi's house? He had hoped she lived before his house came, so that she wouldn't get to see where he lived and she wouldn't bother him.

Just his luck, Sora's house came first. He sighed as he walked by the porch. "Well, this is my house. Now can you leave me alone?"

The look in Kairi's eye scared him, it only meant bad news for him.

"Oh boy, dare I ask, what is it?" he asked, preparing for the worst.

Kairi pointed to the house next to his. "My family and I just moved into that house!"

And Sora's world collapsed. Everything he was hoping not to come true, had come true with this girl. He had nearly every class with her, including lunch, and he lived right next to her! What was next? He was going to find out they share a fucking toothbrush?

Sora face palmed himself. "Are you a stalker? Did you plan all of this?"

Kairi shrugged, "I'm just as shocked as you are!"

'Shocked' wasn't the proper word to describe Sora's emotions right now, more like infuriated. He was going to have to deal with a clingy bitch 24/7, and he couldn't do anything about it. He could ignore her all he wanted, but she'd just keep coming back.

He decided to take what was left of his spirit and go inside his house and take a long nap, and just forget about this whole day. But before he could induce himself with the sweet sanity of sleep, Kairi had to ruin his plans, of course.

"Wait!" Kairi said.

Sora turned around with an annoyed look. "Now, what?!"

"Gimme your phone," she said, more like demanded but in a non-threatening way.

Sora pulled out his phone and looked at it, then eyed her suspiciously. "Why?"

Kairi rolled her eyes, "Just hand it here, you asshole."

Sora handed it over. He might as well not argue and just let her do whatever. Saves him the headache, or at least adding onto the one already fizzing in his head.

Kairi gave it back to him with his brows quirked.

"What'd you do?" he asked suspiciously.

"I got your number," she said, as if it were obvious.

Sora face palmed himself again, "I hate you."

Kairi blew him a kiss teasingly, "Love you, too!" Kairi then skipped off to her house, and gave him a wink before she entered the residence.

Okay, he'd be lying if he said he didn't like it when she said 'love you' like that. Wait, what was he thinking? He doesn't like that bitch! Because...she's a bitch.

He couldn't even come up with a proper derogatory term to describe her in his head at the moment as he slugged his way into his house.

Within his house was his mother, Aerith. She was a very young-looking and attractive woman for her age. She was at the kitchen, cooking something.

"Oh, hey Sora, sweetie!" she greeted. Typical mom greeting, but Sora loved her anyway. She was the only one who was there for him throughout all the years of being alone at school. She was the only who cared for him, so he had to be grateful for her. She was the most special thing in the world to him, even if he did find her annoying at times. "How was your first day?"

"It was fine," Sora answered. The same answer he always gave her. Nothing ever interesting happened to him at school. Well, today might be interesting enough of a story to tell her, but he was tired and decided he'd just bullshit his way out of this conversation.

"Are you hungry?" she asked.

"Nah, I'm gonna just take a nap. But can you just put my plate in the microwave?"

"Sure thing," she said as Sora walked upstairs.

Once up there, he was met up with another family member who he cared a lot for as well.

"Hey, Sora."

"Hey, Roxas."

Roxas was Sora's twin brother, except he had blond hair that was more contained than Sora's. Not only that, he was Sora's best friend. Sure, they bickered and fought like normal brothers do, but Roxas was the only person Sora could hang out with for a long time, so they had a strong bond.

"Yo, Sora," Roxas started, "who was that girl you were talking to out there? I was looking out the window of my room. Damn, dude, she is freaking hot."

Oh no, Roxas saw her? He wasn't going to hear the end of relentless and malicious teasing. Now Sora had to make sure Roxas and Kairi never came into contact with each other ever. EVER. EV-ER. Which wasn't going to be easy because she lived right next door, and knowing his rotten luck...

"I didn't know you got a girlfriend. And on the first day of school, no less."

"She's not my girlfriend," Sora spat. "I don't even consider her my friend."

Sora felt a jingle go off in his pants. He pulled out his phone to see what was up.

_You have received a text: _

_ill see u 2morrow Sora sweety ;)_

_Kairi _

Sora groaned. He knew she was doing this just to annoy him. Roxas looked at the text and gave Sora an accusing grin.

"I know what it looks like, but she's just doing this to irritate me," Sora defended.

Roxas rolled his eyes, "Whatever. You're crazy. If you're trying to avoid," Roxas looked at the text one more time to see if he could spot her name. "Kairi, then you are one homosexual idiot. Girl is sexy."

Sora was getting annoyed. If you haven't noticed, it's easy for him to get annoyed. "Okay, she's really good-looking. I'll give you that, but she's annoying as hell. I don't care how hot she is, there's no way I'm ever doing anything remotely 'romantic' with her."

Roxas was thinking for a second, "So, you're not trying to go out with her?" Sora shook his head. "Mind if I try to go out with her?"

Sora didn't mind at all. Matter of fact, that was perfect. If Kairi was Roxas' girlfriend, he wouldn't have to worry about Kairi messing with him or Roxas teasing him relentlessly, and he would be free to do his second most favorite thing to do in the world, sleep.

"Knock yourself out, dear brother," Sora said, placing a hand on Roxas shoulder.

"Awesome! Thanks, bro! You, are the man! A stupid one, but still the man!" Roxas said as he jogged to his room.

Sora didn't care to reply. Roxas should have no trouble wooing Kairi. He was a lot more outgoing and less shy than Sora, and he was pretty popular at his school, Twilight High. Mainly for his sense of humor and good looks.

Since they are twins and share the same looks, Roxas would encourage Sora all the time to be more outgoing like him at Sora's school, and he would be, as Roxas jokingly put it, 'swimming wit da bitches'. Sora acted like he just wasn't interested, but he was actually nervous about doing that. He felt that people wouldn't find him funny or attractive even if he were like Roxas, so why bother?

Sora trudged in his room and threw his bag down and changed into his sleeping attire: a plain white T-Shirt, and some basketball shorts. Yeah, he balled here and there, which was why he was moderately liked around this area more because of his basketball skills, but he was still no Roxas.

Sora plopped onto his warm, fuzzy, and comfortable queen sized bed and tucked himself in. Oh, he almost forgot. He reached over for his phone and typed some in. There, now he could rest in peace.

...

Kairi set her backpack down and sat down at her little desk, sighing of relief to finally be back home. Her phone vibrated and she pulled it out to find herself giggling at the contents sent to her.

_You have received a text message: _

_go fuck urself _

_Sora _

* * *

**A/N: lol that was a fun chapter to write. Now i said i based sora's character off me, but i would not be an asshole like him. if someone were to come up to me, id take advantage of the situation and be as nice as can be. **

**but the whole michael jackson thing was true, and the basketball thing. tell me what you think :)**


	3. Revelation

Chapter 3

The morning, how he hated the morning.

The morning was always the worst part about going to school.

Scratch that, waking up at all was the worst part about going to school. If only school was such a haven that allowed us to wake up at our own desire. Well, if that were the case, Sora would be going to school at two o' clock in the afternoon everyday.

Have you ever had a sleep that felt so good you felt like you were drifting on a cloud? Then it was just abruptly ruined by some obnoxious fiend who dared trespassed in the sanctuary of your sleep?

Well, for Sora-

"Sora, get your lazy ass up!"

This was one of those unfortunate times.

After getting yelled at by his brother, Roxas, Sora got out of his bed. He took his morning shower, and got dressed in his uniform. He always wore a jacket, even if it wasn't cold out. Mainly so that he could put on his hood to cover up the fact he was secretly listening to his music in class.

He groggily trudged downstairs, preparing for the second day of school, when he was met with a sight that froze him in his tracks. It was Kairi, and she was sitting at _his _table.

She noticed him and gave him a wave and a friendly smile. Sora was too shocked to respond.

"Why are you in my house?" Her smile turned upside down. He looked at his mom, who was finishing up breakfast, "What's she doing in our house?"

"Oh, Sora! You didn't tell me yesterday about your little friend," Aerith cooed. Aerith spun over to her son whispered in his ear, "She's so cute! She's super super cute! I'm so happy for you!"

Sora was annoyed. On the bright side, he was now completely awake. "Mom! She's not my friend! Why'd you let her in?"

"Sora," she scolded. "That is no way to treat a guest!"

Sora rolled his eyes, "She's not a guest, she's gross!" Kairi stuck her tongue out at him.

"What are you? Five? I thought you'd be into girls by now," said Aerith.

"MOM!" Sora yelled in frustration. Kairi couldn't help but giggle at Sora.

"Oh, quit laughing you," Sora said as he took a seat next to her. He plopped down next to her and noticed her staring at him with big blue eyes. "What're you lookin' at?"

"Someone who's got Intermittent explosive disorder," she teased. Sora groaned, why was she here? Why wouldn't she leave him alone?

Aerith saw the two and couldn't help but act like a giddy school girl on the inside. They just looked so cute together in her eyes.

Soon enough, Roxas ran down the steps, but froze when he saw Kairi in the dining room. So that's what Kairi looks like in person. Holy shit, she had to be the hottest girl he's ever laid eyes on.

Sora saw Roxas staring. Time for phase one of his plan. He gestured his brother into the room. Roxas put on his best act at confidence but he failed miserably.

"M-m-morning, e-everyone," he said, trying to sound cheerful, but he was too distracted by the beauty sitting at the table.

"Oh, Sora, you didn't tell me you had a brother!" Kairi said.

Roxas sat across from her, "Yep, t-that's me," he stuttered. Her voice was angelic. This was the first time Roxas had been truly nervous around a girl in a long time. Sora _had _to be on drugs not to try and get some of that.

"Yeah, Kairi, this," Sora had to keep telling himself in his head that what he was about to say was for the best, "handsome young gentlemen is my twin brother, Roxas." Sora almost felt like burning his tongue for having to admit his brother was at all handsome.

"Nice to meet you," she greeted friendly, "I'm Kairi."

"Ah-ah-wha-ba..." was all Roxas could spit. Kairi giggled, getting a little deja vu from when she met Sora the first time. He was speechless as well.

"Anyways," Sora interrupted, trying to avoid from his brother embarrassing himself any longer. The more Roxas looks like an idiot, more quality time with Kairi. "I was thinking, do you two want to head up to the park with me after school tomorrow?"

Sora looked at Roxas and gestured his eyes at Kairi. Roxas understood. "Sure, I'm game," he answered.

"What about you, Kairi?" Sora asked.

Kairi gave him a suspicious look. She was no fool, she was well aware of the fact that Sora wanted nothing to do with her, so she knew he had to have something up his sleeve. But she played along, acting if she was clueless to Sora's scheme, "Sure. Sounds like fun."

"Great, it's a date!" Sora exclaimed.

Roxas was sweating. Hard. The mere presence of this girl was almost intoxicating for him. Sora was one dumbass motherfucker.

"Okay, breakfast is ready," Aerith said, setting down plates for the three. It was eggs, toast, and bacon. A typical breakfast made by a typical mom.

Well, as cliche as it was, it tasted divine. Kairi couldn't believe how good it was. "Wow, this is really good Mrs. Hikari!"

"Thank you, sweetie!"

Sora began looking at her oddly while chewing on his toast. Kairi noticed and gave him an odd stare back, "Quit looking at me like that, you look like a troll."

"I'm just trying to figure out why you couldn't eat breakfast at your own house," Sora said irritatingly.

"So that we can head to school together. Duh!"

Sora groaned. Like he wanted that.

Kairi felt like something was missing. There was Sora, Roxas, Mrs. Hikari, but nobody else.

"Um, Mrs. Hikari," Kairi began, getting the attention of the young woman, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but where's Mr. Hikari?"

All three of them gulped in unison, which was pretty creepy.

"Um," Aerith began. "We're divorced," she excused.

"Oh, that's too bad," Kairi felt bad. She should have kept her mouth shut.

"Yeah, and you had no business bringing it up," Sora said.

Kairi felt worse now. Maybe his father was the thing that made him such a grouch? Something still felt unanswered.

"Hey, c'mon, give her a break," Roxas defended for Kairi, "it's not like she knew or anything."

Sora ignored his brother as he finished off his cold glass of OJ.

"Why are you being such an ass-" Roxas stopped himself right there. He almost forgot his mother was still in the room. "Jerk face," he covered.

Sora just puffed and got up. He picked his bag off the floor and started to the door. Kairi felt a little guilty, she had no intention of upsetting him. She felt like she had done something wrong.

"Hey," Sora yelled at her. Kairi looked up and saw him waiting for her by the door, "you gonna sit there all day like an idiot?"

Kairi sighed and got up, tossing her bag over her shoulder, "I'll see you later, Roxas."

"Sure," he responded. He felt bad for her, it wasn't like she did anything wrong. Sora was just being a little dickhead right now. But he wasn't mad at Sora either, he knew why Sora was really mad, and even though Sora acted like it, he could tell he wasn't mad at Kairi.

* * *

The two had a silent bus ride to school. Sora just listened to his music while Kairi just wallowed in silence.

The two got off the bus and started heading off to school, Sora walking ahead. Strife Academy was right down the street. Kairi decided to break the ice.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I shouldn't have brought it up earlier, about your father. I just wanted to help you, and help you get through-"

"Well you're not fucking helping," he quickly interrupted, stopping dead in his tracks. "Why don't you get it? I don't want you around. Why won't you leave me alone? You. Are. Annoying."

Kairi was shocked at his sudden anger, it almost frightened her. But she was going to stand her ground. She walked up behind him, "Sora, I'm sorry, just...just tell me what's wrong." She touched his shoulder trying to comfort him but he quickly rejected her offer and turned around, his face full of angry and his eyes watery.

"Don't touch me!" he yelled. "Stay away from me! Be friends with my brother if you want to, but keep me out of it! Leave me alone!"

Sora couldn't take it anymore. He started running away, and Kairi was too shocked to do anything. She didn't mean to upset him, but perhaps...perhaps Selphie was right. Maybe Selphie and Riku were right, maybe she should have just left him alone.

Never had her feelings been so hurt by anyone, and all she wanted to do was just help. I guess you can't help everybody.

Kairi felt like a zombie as she made her way to class. She stumbled across Selphie who had a sympathetic smile on her face. "Hey, kiddo. You okay?" asked her best friend.

"You were right," she admitted.

"Huh?" asked Selphie. Some elaboration would be useful.

"About that boy. His name is Sora, and you were right. He just wanted to be left alone. I thought I could help him, but he ended up...not wanting my help."

Any other day, Selphie would have gloated with the 'I told you so's' right about now, but she could tell Kairi was really upset. "I'm sorry," Selphie apologized.

Kairi put on a weak smile, "Why are you apologizing? You did nothing wrong, you just tried to warn me, and you were right."

"No, I'm sorry that you got hurt. I knew he wasn't going to be fun, but I didn't think he'd be _that _bad."

"It's okay. I don't want to think about it any more. Let's just go back to class. I'll sit with you and Riku today." Selphie gave her a sympathetic look again. Kairi thought her friend would be all giddy, "What?"

"You remember what Mr. Newburn said yesterday, right? Where you sat yesterday is your permanent seat until further notice."

Damn, she was right. That was going to make things pretty awkward. Ugh, why'd Sora have to be so childish?

They headed into class, and Kairi noticed that Sora looked like crap. It was obvious he had been crying, since his eyes were bloodshot.

Kairi took her seat next to Sora, and he didn't move a muscle. Kairi tried to keep her attention away from him, but she couldn't help but give him a couple of glances.

"Hey," she started. As she expected, he didn't acknowledge her. "Okay, I know you're mad, and you don't have to believe me, or accept me, or anything, but I just want you to know that I'm truly sorry."

Sora looked at her for a moment, but he couldn't say anything. The words wouldn't come out. They refused to. Man, how'd everything go so sour so fast? At this time yesterday, he almost thought he was in love with her, now he can't bare to look at her.

Mr. Newburn walked in, "Alright, class, take your seats."

Everybody obliged to his wishes, and class had begun.

* * *

The whole day, Sora was avoiding her. Which he did a pretty good job of doing despite having almost all of his classes with her. He always found a way to weasel away from her if she tried getting near him, such as excusing himself from class or just getting lucky when Kairi was pursued by boys.

Kairi was still feeling bad about the whole situation. She felt like something needed to be done. She wasn't going to let Riku or Selphie get the win, not this time.

She had to find out what was troubling Sora, even if he hated her for it. Nosy? Yeah, she'll admit it. But she's not being nosy for the sake of being nosy, she wanted to help. No one should have to suffer, even if he was being kind of a jerk.

Kairi had a feeling it had something to do with his father. It had to be something deeper than what she was told earlier.

_"Um," Aerith began. "We're divorced," she excused. _

But that couldn't be true. Was a simple divorce enough to bring somebody pain? Just about everybody she knew had a mother and father who were divorced at some point. No, this was something deeper than a divorce, and she was going to get to the bottom of it.

There's only one thing that could make someone bitter if it's about a family member. Well, there were actual quite a few things, but Kairi had a hunch...yes! Of course! How could she not see it before?

The day ended and she knew what she had to do, even if he hated her: she had to find Sora. Kairi walked out to the spot where she and Sora waited yesterday, and she expected to see a spiky-haired brunet sitting there, but the bench was empty.

She then noticed a 42 bus riding down the street leaving its exhaust behind.

Great, now she'd have to wait another twenty freaking minutes for the next bus.

After what felt like an eternity, the bus finally arrived. Her hopes went back to its previous state when she remembered the bus takes about forty five minutes to get back home, and then the ten minute walk down the street. This was going to be painful.

But time was on her side as it seemed she got to her street quicker than expected. Perhaps it was just the anticipation of seeing Sora that had gotten to her.

She sped walked down to Sora's house and knocked on the door, praying that Sora answered. But it was only Mrs. Hikari.

"Kairi? What brings you here?" asked the beautiful woman.

"Is Sora here?" Kairi asked.

Aerith shook her head. "Sorry, he just left to go get himself a drink from the corner store."

"Oh," said Kairi in disappointment. Now she'd have to wait even longer.

"Kairi, I think you should come inside. There's something I'd like to tell you."

Didn't have to tell her twice. Kairi walked inside and sat at the dining table, and soon Aerith joined her. Roxas was no where to be seen, though. Must have been in his room.

"Kairi," Aerith started, "I know Sora was a tad...rough earlier when you brought up his father. But you see... the reason is-"

"He's dead, isn't he?"

Aerith nodded her head in response. Smart girl. "Yes, and it's just a picky subject for him, so I'll try to make this quick before he comes back."

"Okay," Kairi understood.

"Where do I begin? Have you ever heard of SOLDIER?" Kairi nodded. "Well, Sora's father was Cloud...Cloud Strife."

Strife? Like..."The Strife that the Academy is named after?"

Aerith nodded.

"He was your husband?"

Aerith nodded again, "Yes. Cloud was one of the most well-respected ones at SOLDIER, and even though he acted like a tough guy on the outside, he was a real sweetheart in the inside."

Kairi inwardly giggled. He sounded a lot like Sora already. But something was confusing her. "Wait, if Cloud was Sora and Roxas' father, why is your last name Hikari?"

"This is where it gets complicated," Aerith smiled. "After we had kids, Cloud faked his death and was labelled K.I.A so that he could help me take care of the kids at the time. He was so respected for his actions, that an Academy was named after him, the one you attend. Sora was really close to his father. Not only his father, but his uncle Zack and his aunt Lucrecia. They always spent time together. Cloud was the best father you could ever imagine, he took Sora to basketball games, since Sora always had a thing for basketball, and he and Zack would always teach him how to play baseball and basketball. But one day, the four of them were riding out to a game, and Sora was ecstatic. He always wanted to go to see a live basketball game, but," Aerith sighed, and when she spoke again, her voice was beginning to crack. "There was a freak accident, and everybody came out dead, except Sora. With a miracle, he only came out with a fractured elbow, but Cloud, Zack, and Lucrecia...they died right in front of his eyes."

Kairi was starting to feel even more bad for Sora. She knew he must have gone through something, but nothing nearly as bad as this. She couldn't imagine seeing death at such a young age.

Aerith continued, "Sora was traumatized by the event, and he was only eight years old. But he never cried, which scared me. He just turned bitter. The once cheerful, happy-go-lucky little boy I once knew was gone. Roxas was upset too, but eventually he learned how to be himself again. But Sora never fully recovered. Could you blame him? The death happened right before his eyes. I can't imagine how scared he was. Sora used to be the best, brightest young boy you'd ever meet. He was kind, caring, and generous. He's still like that, but he refuses to show it nowadays. He still thinks I don't notice."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he's always thinking about others before himself. It may not seem like it, but Sora is far from selfish. He just acts like he doesn't care about anyone, but in reality, he wouldn't harm a fly. I remember one time, and this was after his father's death, when we were walking back from the store to get some ice cream, Sora noticed a young girl no older than four running in the middle of the street, and Sora didn't even think twice about running in front of her and taking the hit of an oncoming car. He ended up breaking his leg. He looked pretty bad and he ended up having to have it in a cast for a long time, and he sure must have been suffering. But I remember he told me, 'as long as that little girl lived to smile another day, he didn't care if he himself had died'. That's just the kind of person Sora was-no, _is. _I could name a million other stories about him, but I'd be talking for hours. I know he may be a little rough around the edges, but I do hope that his exterior doesn't scare you away Kairi. You're the first friend he's had since third grade, because nobody will dare take the time to get to know him, because he just seems like a downer on the outside, and I can tell he he's too shy to do anything about it. By the time he reached ninth grade, he wanted to go to Strife Academy, in honor of his father. But he couldn't go there with the last name Strife, labelled on him. Problems would surely arouse, whether it be from other kids or teachers, good or bad, Sora didn't want to deal with it. So, we changed our names to Hikari, which was my surname. Don't let the boy fool you, he's a special person. One of the most kind and caring individuals I've ever known, and I'm proud to be his mother. Please, Kairi, don't give up on him. As soon as I laid eyes on you, I knew, you were the one. You can be the one to bring out the old Sora again, the real Sora. Can you promise to do that for me Kairi?"

That's what Kairi had in mind from the start. She had just went from feeling sorry for Sora, to now feeling sorry for him _and _gaining respect for him. If only she had known all this earlier. But she was determined to make sure Sora had at least one person he could call his friend. After hearing what Mrs., or Ms. Hikari had just said, she had to.

Kairi nodded her head, "That's what I had in mind to begin with."

Aerith smiled, "Oh, thank you, dear," Aerith cried. She and Kairi shared a hug.

"I have to go find him," said Kairi.

"You don't want to wait for him?" asked Aerith.

"That's the boring way of doing it," Kairi said with a wink. Kairi then sprinted out of the door to go to the corner store.

She was a little familiar with where that was. Kairi and her sister walked up there last week when they first moved into the new house. She must not have ever seen Sora since he likes to be locked up in his room so much, and probably didn't pay it any thought.

She finally made it to the store and looked around. Nope, no spiky hair in sight. She ran up to the man at the counter. "Sora Hikari, where is he?"

The man at the counter popped the bubblegum in his mouth before answering, "You just missed him about three minutes ago."

Kairi had a feeling he'd say something along those lines. She thanked him and ran back out. She had to catch Sora fast. She knew running out to find him instead of just waiting on the porch of his house was dumb, but she was tired of waiting for him, she needed to see him, now.

After running for so long, she finally caught Sora on the porch of his house. Just as he was about to put the key in the front door, he heard something behind him. He turned around and saw Kairi breathing hard.

"Kairi...?" he asked. He didn't even think about the fact that he was supposed to be ignoring her. She looked really sick at the moment.

Kairi then started taking her steps towards him, but she was so tired, she could barely speak. "Sora..."

Kairi then collapsed on the ground. Thoughts of ignoring the girl and staying away from her were all thrown out of the window at that moment. "Kairi!"

Sora dropped his bag of drinks and ran up to Kairi, and held her up in his arms.

"Kairi! Kairi! Open your eyes!" he yelled. (Reference alert)

Kairi's eyes opened and she let out a few coughs. Sora helped her up.

"What happened?"

"I was looking for you...I ran from the corner store trying to find you..."

"You ran all the way from the store? Are you an idiot?! That's a fifteen minute walk, you could have fainted running that much!"

"Okay for real," she interrupted. "What's wrong?" She already knew, but she wanted him to say it.

Sora was taken aback by the sudden switch in relevance, but he put on his tough guy act once more. "Nothing, it's just..."

Kairi eyed him intensely as he tried to avoid eye contact, "Just? Just what?" Silence ensued, mostly due to Sora's stubbornness. Once again, it was up to Kairi to start things back up, so she decided to tell him. "Your dad, he's gone, isn't he?"

Sora gave her a fake chuckle. "So you know..."

"Your mom told me," she admitted.

"It's just, I'm...trying to be strong okay?" Kairi's confused face told Sora to enlighten her. "Been trying to not let myself be reminded of them, especially about him." he was referring to his father on that last part. "It would just be...too painful, okay?"

Sora turned around and grieved. He couldn't believe he just told her that, but she deserved an answer. She earned it.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Sora," she began. "It's okay to let your emotions out. You'll just get sick if you don't."

Please, as if he hadn't heard that one from the books. "Tch, you sound like my mother."

"Sora...it's okay. Everyone cries, I'm not going to think any less of you." Kairi was truly concerned. If he kept his emotions in like this, he was going to be a wreck of an adult later in life.

Sora's eyes started getting all teary. Damn it, why did Kairi have to be so overwhelming?

He turned his face to her, revealing the tears that were threatening to fall from his eyes. Kairi didn't like seeing him this way, but if he didn't go through this, he might become suicidal later in life.

"Sora..." she said.

"Kairi, my uncle...he left me...my aunt did, too...and my father...even he left me," Sora sniffled. "Kairi...why does everyone keep leaving me?"

He felt abandoned, the poor thing. "Sora..." was all she could respond.

Sora collapsed to his knees, and hovered over. He finally began letting out the held back tears from the past seven years. It was a long awaited moment for him. The tears themselves were induced with many emotions, sadness, anger, pain, all jumbled into salty water snippets manifested from his eyes. Kairi was even a little teary-eyed and she hugged over him as he cried. He finally let the tears flow.

Sora was hysterical, "Why?! Why did he leave me?! Why does everyone keep leaving me, Kairi?! Why does everyone hate me?! Why?!" He was weeping uncontrollably now, and Kairi was never so proud of him before.

"I don't hate you," Kairi admitted. Even though he was being a jerk, she was far from hating him. If anything, she admired him at this point.

Sora hugged her back with his head still buried beneath her. "Kairi, please! Please don't leave me! Don't leave me all alone..."

"Shh," she said, rubbing his back. "I won't. I promise."

"Don't leave me...Don't leave me..." Sora whispered.

She smiled. He finally trusted her. She could sleep at ease now, knowing that Sora was okay. She didn't know why, but she felt the need to find out what was bothering him, and she had done so. Sora had done so much to avoid her, and in the end, irony did its job. The one person he kept telling himself he hated was the only one there to comfort him, the only one who he felt comfortable around to let out his emotions in front of. Maybe Kairi wasn't as bad as he thought, she was there for him despite all the things he had said to her. She was a true...friend. He had a friend, something he hadn't had in a long time. Kairi didn't care about anything else anymore. She didn't care about the words, the threats, the _past._ As long as Sora would be okay now, she was okay. Nothing else mattered anymore.

"I'm not going anywhere."


	4. They're Playin' Basketball

Chapter 4

Friday, definitely Sora's most favorite day of the week, especially when school was out.

Sora and Kairi were on the bus, making their way back home. Even though the two made up yesterday, Sora was still trying to get Kairi off his back. He still found her annoying.

He didn't mind having her around, just so long as she didn't get too clingy, so the plan to set her up with Roxas this afternoon was still in commission. He was grateful for Kairi for being there for him yesterday, no doubt, but she was still a bitch.

And to Kairi, Sora was still an asshole. But that's why she liked him. Every time he got mad at her or got irritated with her constant doting, she couldn't help but get a kick out of it.

Sora still tried to act like he hated Kairi, but in actuality, he was starting to get used to her. But he sure as hell wasn't going to tell her that, or else she'd be all over him all day.

The pair made their way off the bus and began walking down the street back home. They were in the midst of conversation, which was mostly just Kairi rambling about her day and Sora just listening.

"And then Tidus threw the ball at Mr. Highwind's head when he wasn't looking, it was so funny! You should have seen it," Kairi said.

"Hm," was Sora's only response. He was more concerned about whether or not she was going to the park with them today, so that he could go take a nap this beautiful afternoon. Because tomorrow he'd be busy. She'd never let him free if he didn't. "Say, Kairi," he said.

Kairi turned to him with a smile. "Yes?"

"You still up for the park with me and Roxas."

Kairi raised a brow. Sora was still up to something, she could feel it. And she had a feeling it had something to do with Roxas. But it was intriguing her, "Yeah, why not?"

"Great," Sora responded. He was so ready for some alone time, he was getting desperate.

The two arrived at their houses, and Sora called out before they entered, "We'll come by to get you in thirty minutes."

"Okay," she called back.

Sora walked in his house. His mom was no where to be seen, so she must have been taking a nap. Sora ran up to his room and threw his bag down. He changed out of his uniform and put on his basketball shorts and a jersey that said "Jordan 23" on the back. It was way too big for him, but he loved it anyway. He figured he might as well play one game of basketball after he gets Roxas and Kairi together, then he'll bail.

After changing, he walked up to Roxas' door and knocked. Roxas opened the door, wearing his school clothes still.

"What's up, man?" Roxas greeted.

"Change into something more comfortable. We're about to head to the park and we're gonna hook you and Kairi up."

"Awesome!" Roxas responded. He was already getting excited. He changed into some cargo shorts, and a jersey that said "Pippen 33" to match his brother.

"Alright, here's the plan," Sora began as he walked back and forth in Roxas' room. Roxas was just sitting on his bed, "we're gonna go to the park and find a bench to sit at. I'm going to pretend to get a text, and excuse myself, acting like I can't stay. Then you and Kairi will be alone and that's when you...er...do whatever it is you do to get girls."

"My charming sense of humor, duh!"

Sora rolled his eyes. He didn't find Roxas 'humor' very appealing, but hey, if it got him time to get away from Kairi, he didn't give a flying pigs ass what methods Roxas used. "Okay, let's go."

The two boys headed outside and over to Kairi's. Sora rung the doorbell and they awaited for Kairi. Sora turned to Roxas one more time, "You remember the plan, don't you?"

"Yeah, chill dude," Roxas responded.

"Okay," Sora responded back, feeling a little uneasy. He should be satisfied right now, he was about to get rid of Kairi, but he couldn't shake the feeling something was bound to go wrong.

The door swung open, and it was the auburn beauty dressed in a white tank top and some short shorts. The outfit complimented her curves nicely, and Roxas was about to lose it. Even Sora had to admit that she looked really good in that outfit.

"Ready to go?" Kairi asked.

"Yeah, c'mon," Sora said, using all the strength he had to keep himself from staring at that sexy body of hers. It would be a lot easier for him to want to avoid Kairi if she weren't so attractive.

"Oh, hope you two don't mind," Kairi said. "But I was wondering if my sister, Namine, could join as well."

Kairi walked out of the door frame to reveal her sister, Namine, who was dressed in a white sundress. Roxas' eyes almost popped out of his skull, and Sora mentally face palmed himself. He forgot that Kairi had a twin sister.

Sora wanted to rip his hair out. He could tell by the look in Roxas' eye that he wasn't concerned about Kairi anymore, but was now infatuated with Namine. Which meant, Kairi was free to hang around Sora all day.

Sora felt his stomach churn, this wasn't going to be fun, was it?

"H-h-h-h-iiii..." Roxas introduced. "I-I-I...I-I-"

"He's Roxas, I'm Sora. Can we go now?"

"Yeah, come on! I'm pumped," Kairi said, hooking her arm with Sora, much to his dismay, or at least he tried to act that way.

Sora and Kairi took the lead while Namine and Roxas walked side-by-side nervously. They made their way to the park, the whole time through, Roxas couldn't think of anything to say to Namine.

Namine seemed very quiet and reserved from what he could tell. Roxas was so nervous, his hands felt like they had been dipped in a bucket of rubbing alcohol.

Sora and Kairi were having a good time in front of them (even though Sora wouldn't admit it). They were insulting each other and ridiculing each other like usual, but they liked doing that.

Roxas could tell they seemed really comfortable with each other, and they've only known each other for three days. He wondered if he and Namine could be like that.

They finally made their way up to the basketball court, where there was a game of three-on-three going on.

One of the players dribbled the ball down the court and shot lights out with a three-pointer, ending the game. They noticed Sora and Roxas waiting by the side.

"Sora, Roxas!" said one of the ballers.

"What's up, Xigbar?" greeted Roxas. His confidence was beginning to return at the sight of old friends.

Kairi was confused as to why he had an eye patch, but figured she best not let her curiosity get the best of her. It almost ruined her relationship with Sora.

Xigbar noticed the two pretty women hanging around the two. He was stunned. Roxas brought a girl or two with him occasionally, but never did he bring chicks _this _hot before. And Sora never had a girl with him at all, so this was news to him.

"And who are these young ladies you got here?" Xigbar grinned.

"Just some acquaintances," Sora said, even though he didn't even want to say that. He preferred "associates", especially in Kairi's case.

Kairi playfully hit Sora's arm. "Don't be so modest, Sora. Me and Sora are dating."

"WHAT?!" Everyone in the park besides Sora and Kairi yelled out. Sora never had a girlfriend before.

Xigbar slung his arm over the spiky-haired brunet and gave him a noogie, "Sora, my man! I didn't know you had a girlfriend, especially one that looked so damn good, too!"

Sora shoved Xigbar off of him. "Back off, bro. She's not my girlfriend," he said calmly. Kairi was a little surprised. She thought Sora was going to get super defensive or something.

"Aw, whatever!"

"Yeah, Sora, why must you hide our love?" Kairi teased again.

"So you _are _dating?"

"Uh-huh," Kairi replied enthusiastically. "I'm telling you, sex with Sora is the best thing you could ever imag-"

"Don't listen to her," Sora interrupted. "She's just trying to get under my skin, and it ain't working."

Xigbar looked at Sora and Kairi. He would bet his own other eye that they would end up being together before the school year ends. But he decided to just keep that to himself, for now.

"Well, anyway, you guys want in?" Xigbar asked, referring to the basketball game.

"Yeah, it's the reason why we fucking came," said Roxas, getting a little impatient. He needed to play basketball right now so that he could get rid of the tense feeling of standing next to Namine.

"Alright, me and Xemnas are gonna pick up teams," said Xigbar.

"I get first pick," said Xemnas. "I got Sora."

Kairi was getting intrigued. She wanted to see how good Sora was at basketball. He had to be pretty good to have been picked up first. Sora walked up onto to the court.

"I got," Xigbar pondered, "Lex."

Lex walked up on the court as well. His full name was Lexaeus. Xemnas smirked at Xigbar, as if he knew something he didn't.

"What?" asked Xigbar.

"You're so stupid. I got Roxas."

Roxas stepped on the court, and what Xemnas was talking about sunk into Xigbar's limited in depth brain.

"Aw, dude, that's cheating!" he complained. "Sora and Roxas on the same team is automatic bullshit!"

Xemnas shrugged. "You should have picked up Roxas first."

Xigbar just groaned. It was another three-on-three game. The teams were Sora, Roxas, and Xemnas vs. Xigbar, Lexaeus, and Saïx.

The game started and Xigbar's team got first ball, since Xemnas had first pick. Kairi and Namine sat on a bench, this was going to be interesting.

Xigbar played point guard on his team and brought the ball down the court. He got in Xemnas' face and started trying to cross him over. He got nothing, so he just pulled up for the shot. Unfortunately for him, he got blocked by Roxas before he could shoot the ball.

Roxas ran down the court for the fastbreak and saw Sora coming down with him. Roxas did a no-look 360 spin pass to Sora, to which Sora caught and dunked with one hand in the rim.

Kairi and Namine were stunned, Sora and Roxas weren't even that tall and they could still perform slam dunks. So _that's _why Xigbar was complaining that Sora and Roxas were on the same team, they were an unstoppable combo on the court. It made sense for them to have Jordan and Pippen jerseys on, because they were like a younger version of that duo.

"Damn it," Lexaeus yelled. "Stop ball-hogging, Xig!"

"Chill your ass, dude," was Xigbar's response. Xigbar took the ball down the court. This time he passed it to Saïx, who was wide open in the corner.

Saïx shot the ball for the three, but he missed of course. Xemnas caught the rebound, quickly tossing it up to Sora, who was already down the court, and Sora threw up an alley-oop to his brother.

Roxas caught the ball with one hand, switched hands, and then jammed it into the rim.

Kairi and Namine cheered the boys on, well, mostly Kairi. Namine just clapped enthusiastically.

"Woo! Go Sora! Go Roxas!" Kairi cheered.

Sora admitted in his head that having Kairi cheer him on was a confidence booster.

"Okay, I got this! No more fooling around!" Xigbar said, getting frustrated. He took the ball down the court once again. He tried getting in Sora's face to try and shake him and get to the hoop, but Sora just stole the ball away. He made it look as easy as slicing butter.

Sora ran down the court and tossed the ball up for an easy layup, and Kairi cheered him on again. Sora winked at her.

And it was like that throughout the entire game. Sora and Roxas dominated the court with their steals, alley-oops, flashy passes, all in a means to show off in front of their respective girls.

Kairi was loving it. She had to admit that Sora looked pretty hot when he was playing basketball and showing off like that. He looked so happy when playing basketball. So confident, and the confidence looked good on him.

Namine was quite impressed with Roxas' performance too, even if she wasn't into sports that much. Sora and Roxas were definitely an entertaining dynamic duo to watch.

For the final play of the game, Sora brought the ball down the court. He passed it to Roxas, who tried getting a crossover on Lexaeus, but he ended up just turning the ball over.

"Oops," was all he said.

But Sora wasn't having any of that. As Lexaeus ran down the court, he jumped up for a dunk, but Sora was too quick and just blocked the dunk easily, hitting the backboard.

Sora landed and caught the rebound and sprinted down the court. He passed it to Roxas and gave him the eye. Roxas knew what that meant. Roxas dribbled the ball under the rim and tossed it into the air, a smirk plastered on his face directed at the girls, the ball hit the backboard and Sora inevitably caught the ball in mid-air and did a 360 under the legs dunk.

Kairi and Namine were amazed, they didn't even know a dunk like that was possible. Kairi was going crazy, even Namine had to cheer for that one.

That was the finish of the game as well, the score being 22 to 13, of course Xemnas team being the winners.

Sora rubbed his nose, a little embarrassed by the praise he was getting from Kairi. Kairi ran up to him and gave him a hug.

"Sora! You were amazing!" she praised. "You could seriously be a real basketball player!"

"Thanks," he had to admit, he was flattered. That was the first time he ever felt the need to show off before, but he was glad he did it. "But I don't want to be a basketball player when I grow up, I kinda have something else in mind."

Kairi raised a brow at him. Why would he not want to be a basketball pro? He was so good! "Like what?"

"Um," he thought about telling her, but decided otherwise. "Nah, you'd just laugh at me."

Kairi frowned. "No, I won't."

"Hey, lovebirds!" Xigbar called out. They turned around to see a different set of three waiting to take on the winning team. "Stop making googly eyes at each other, Sora's got to compete," he teased.

"Ugh, she's not my girlfriend!" Sora said, flustered.

Sora stepped out on the court with Xemnas and Roxas at his side. He and Roxas shared some kind of secret handshake for a job well done on the court.

They looked at their opponents, who were named Terra, Xaldin, and Demyx. Sora and Roxas couldn't help but chuckle. Terra and Xaldin were good, but Demyx? He was the worst player that came to this court.

The game started up, and since Team Xemnas won last game, they got first ball. Xemnas brought the ball down the court. He passed it to Roxas, and Roxas just stood there for a second, until he threw the ball into the air with Xemnas on the receiving end, smashing the ball down the hoop. Terra's team might as give up now.

Terra brought the ball down the court. He passed it to Xaldin. Xaldin tried shaking Roxas off of him, but Roxas had too good of defense, so he gave it back to Terra.

Terra did a spin move and tossed it back to Xaldin, where Xaldin drove to the rim, but got stuck when he was doubled by Xemnas and Roxas, so he was forced to pass the ball back to Terra.

The two were trying to keep the ball away from Demyx at all times, despite the fact he was wide open in the corner.

"Hey, hey! Right here, guys! I'm wide open!"

Terra gave him a glance, but figured it wasn't worth it, and passed it back to Xaldin. Namine and Kairi were getting bored of this. It was just Terra and Xaldin passing back and forth. They were getting anxious for Sora and Roxas to take the game over again.

"Hey," Demyx was starting to get worried. His teammates were completely ignoring him. "Guys..."

Xaldin shot the two-point shot, but missed unfortunately. And Sora caught the rebound and began sprinting down the court. He started looking for Roxas and...there he was. Sora did a behind-the-back pass and Roxas caught the ball, finishing the play with a one-handed jam.

Kairi and Namine cheered. Finally, some excitement. Sora and Roxas did a robot dance celebration to mock the other team, which Namine and Kairi giggled at.

Namine went over to Kairi's ear and whispered. "The blond one is cute, isn't he?"

Kairi gave her sister a grin. "So you like him?"

Namine used a finger to twirl her hair, "Maybe," she teased. "What's his name again?"

"Roxas," Kairi answered. They turned their attention back to the game, where they saw Terra just score a layup.

Demyx was wide open, but of course nobody payed him any attention, except for Sora. Sora felt kind of bad for Demyx, knowing perfectly well what it was like to feel ignored or unwanted. Sora couldn't stand to see it any longer. "Timeout!" he called.

The players looked at him curiously. "Timeout?" asked an annoyed Xaldin. "What for?"

"I want to switch up teams," said the brunet.

"Um, depends," said Terra, rubbing his chin. "Who do you want to pick up?"

"I want Roxas and Demyx."

"Deal," Terra said immediately. He was glad to get rid of Demyx, since he was profoundly useless.

"Sora," Roxas said a little irritatingly. "What the hell are you doing? Demyx? Really?"

Sora remained calm with his hands in his pockets. "Relax, it's just a game. It's not like we're betting money or anything. Besides, they weren't treating Demyx right, and I just couldn't stand to see it anymore."

"You mean how they were ignoring him? Surely you don't expect _us _to give him the ball, it'll just be an automatic turnover!" Roxas argued.

Sora frowned at him. Why was his brother being a dick right now? Wasn't _Sora _supposed to be the asshole? "Then I'll be point guard. I'll set him up to get him some scores."

"Tch, good luck with that," Roxas spat sarcastically.

The game started up again, with the new teams being Terra, Xemnas, and Xaldin vs. Sora, Roxas, and Demyx. Terra thought this was gonna be a piece of cake, with it being three big men up against three scrawny little guys.

Terra brought the ball down the court. He passed it to Xemnas who threw up a pump fake, which Demyx fell for, allowing Xemnas to drive to the rim for a dunk.

Terra was taunting them as they prepared their defense.

Roxas gave Sora a dirty look, which Sora gestured him to relax. Sora walked up to Demyx, who was looking pretty sad.

"I-I'm sorry, I know I'm no good. I understand if you want to kick me off," Demyx apologized.

Sora put a hand on his shoulder. "No, no, it's okay. Nobody's perfect, right?"

Demyx gave Sora a shocked look. Usually when he messed up, he would get yelled at or kicked off. "B-but..."

"Don't put yourself down, man," Sora gave him a smile. "I believe in you."

That was the first time Demyx heard that. Nobody ever believed in him. "Y-you do?"

Sora nodded. Then he whispered something in Demyx's ear, Demyx understood and he in-bounded the ball to Sora.

Sora took the ball down the court. He dribbled over to Roxas and whispered in his ear, "Set me a pick."

Roxas understood and did as such, blocking Xemnas. This gave Sora enough room to get to the hoop and get an easy layup, but instead, Sora tossed the ball over to Demyx, who was open behind the three-point line. "Shoot!" Demyx gave Sora an unsure look. Sora gave him a grin. It was goofy and cheesy, but it was the friendliest grin anyone could see, "I believe in you!"

Kairi felt her heart skip a beat after seeing Sora make that grin. That grin looked so good on him, it could make any girl melt. Except Namine, she was too busy checking out Roxas.

Demyx nodded. He shot the ball into the air, and suspense filled the air, as if the ball were moving in slow motion. The ball bounced off the rim, but instead of hitting the ground, it fell right into the net.

"I...I made it..." Demyx couldn't believe it, "I made the shot!"

Sora gave him a thumbs up. "I told you you could do it."

Everyone else on the court was shocked as well. Demyx barely scored in the middle of a game, and if he did, it was definitely no three-pointer.

Kairi smiled at Sora, even though he didn't notice. Now she knew what Aerith meant yesterday when she said that Sora was a caring person. He was being the bigger man in letting Demyx on his team even though he wasn't exactly the best player, and making sure everyone got involved.

Sora, Roxas, and Demyx actually made a pretty good team. Sora and Roxas did the aggressive driving while Demyx scored more then usual, making almost all threes.

In the dead middle of the game, there was a turning point. Roxas did a step back to shoot the three pointer, but it missed. Everyone was shocked when Demyx leaped up, caught the ball, and jammed it back into rim.

It even earned cheers from Kairi and Namine.

"Holy shit," said a wide-eyed Demyx. "I dunked the ball...I _dunked _the ball! OH MY GOSH I DUNKED THE BALL! THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY HORRIBLE EXCUSE OF A LIFE!"

"I'm happy for you Demyx, but come on, we need to get back into the play," Sora said, pointing to the other team already down the court.

"Oh, right," Demyx agreed.

After that dunk, though, it was all over.

Sora, Roxas, and Demyx were in complete sync after that. It was as if they shared a brain. Demyx ended up being almost as good as Sora and Roxas, he just needed someone to give him the confidence to step up his game, which Sora did.

The three were unstoppable, throwing flashy passes, three-pointers, layups, alley-oops, even to Demyx. The best moment of the game happened near the end when Sora's team had the fastbreak. Demyx sprinted down the court and threw the alley-oop up to Roxas, Roxas caught it in mid-air, but tossed it up again, which Sora caught and jammed into the rim. It looked impossible, but they had achieved it, flawlessly.

Sora got a little distracted when he looked over at Kairi, who was talking to Xigbar.

"So, since you and Sora ain't got nothin' goin' on, how 'bout you and me go back to my place," Xigbar said, trying to look good.

Kairi had to use all her strength to not laugh right in his face. "Get out of my face," she said, shoving him off.

"Come on, baby," he wooed.

What's this? Was Sora getting...jealous?

"Hey, Sora, pay attention! We got one more point to end this game," Roxas said. He in-bounded the ball to Sora, which Sora caught despite scowling at the scene unfolding off to the side.

Sora gripped the ball hard, he couldn't stand seeing Kairi in the arms of that one-eyed horny bastard. "Hey, Xiggie!" he called.

Xigbar turned around, "Huh?" Before he could say anything else, the ball hit him straight in the face, knocking him square to the ground.

"Back off, will ya? The lady said no," Sora said triumphantly.

Kairi cheered Sora on even more, to which he gave her a thumbs up, but quickly remembered he was supposed to be annoyed by her and played it off as if he were trying to rub his hair.

Since Sora threw the ball out of bounds, it was a turnover. But it didn't matter, since they got the ball back right away, and Sora passed it to Demyx so that he could get the game-winning shot for three.

The three congratulated each other for a job well done. Sora and Roxas were tired now, though, so they decided to hit the road, especially before Xigbar woke up, and _killed _Sora for what he did.

Sora and Kairi went off to get some ice cream while Roxas offered to walk Namine home, since she was feeling a little tired.

"So," Roxas started. "Um, sorry for being kind of weird earlier, so let's just start over. I'm Roxas."

Namine smiled, "Namine. Pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Roxas."

Roxas chuckled at her poor attempt to sound formal. "So, what do you like to do for fun?"

Namine thought about it, she liked to do a lot of things, but there was only thing she truly had passion for. "I like to make art," she answered.

"You're an artist?" he asked rhetorically. "Wow, that's actually pretty cool. You should show me some of your stuff some time."

"Thank you, but it's not very good," she responded. Roxas playfully rolled his eyes. So modest, she was. "What about you? What do you like to do for fun? Besides basketball, of course."

"Me? Well, I really like to dance."

Namine wasn't expecting that, "You dance?"

"Yeah, my brother, Sora, is always trying to teach me."

"Wait, Sora, knows how to dance?"

"Yeah, he's like a professional. Matter of fact, he does it for a living."

"Do tell."

"Well, my mom couldn't find a job after my father uh...left , so Sora took it upon himself to make money for us to survive. Every Saturday he performs at Paopu's Pallet. He can sing good, too."

Namine wasn't expecting Sora to be good at that kind of stuff. When she first met him, he seemed like a moody grump, but he seemed to warm up while playing basketball. He seemed more like himself.

"Your brother's really nice," she said. Roxas didn't like the sound of that, did that mean she has the hots for his brother?

"Y-yeah," he responded.

Namine thought about what she said. She hoped he didn't think that that meant she _liked _Sora, because in all honesty, she liked the boy walking next to her a bit more.

* * *

"Two sea-salt ice cream bars, please," said Sora to the woman behind the ice cream stand. She happily handed him his ice cream as he paid for it, "Thank you," he said before he and Kairi walked off.

Sora gave her the ice cream, trying not to look her in the face. If he did, he'd end up staring at her in that outfit. "Try it, it's good."

Kairi took it and gave it a lick, and was surprised at its taste. "Salty...but...so sweet!" she exclaimed. "This is super good!"

"Yeah," Sora said in a monotone voice.

Kairi gave him a worried look. "Hey," she said. "I'm not Medusa, it's okay if you look at me." Sora didn't budge. "Sora, I saw what you did out there."

"What are you talking about?"

"The way you let that guy on your team, even though he wasn't that good. You said those encouraging words, and you were just being sweetest person known to man."

Sora shrugged, "I just felt sorry for him, that's all."

Kairi began poking his cheek, "Oh, don't try to hide it. You can try to act like 'Mr. I don't give a fuck' all you want, but I know inside you're a big sweetheart."

Sora brushed her hand away. "Am not. Will you cut that out, already?"

"Sora, you don't have to deny it. I think it's cute."

"Which is exactly why I'm denying it," he retorted.

"Ugh, can't you be happy for once in your pathetic life?"

"Can't be happy if you have a pathetic life following you around all the time."

"Stop being a brat, I make your life all the more interesting. So don't even try to tell me your life is that bad."

"Maybe not, but I wouldn't consider my day getting any better with you tagging along."

Kairi rolled her eyes, "Which is why you got jealous when Xigbar started flirting with me."

Uh-oh, time for lousy quick cover-ups 101. "Tch, me? Jealous? Please! It's just that Xigbar is annoying. He flirts with all the girls around here. Usually I don't mind, but today it was just bugging me."

Kairi was just going to translate that into, 'because I actually like you but I'm just too stubborn to admit it'. That seemed more accurate.

Kairi wasn't sure if she like _liked _Sora yet, but she did know that she liked spending time with him. Though, she would admit, that grin he made earlier, if he did that more often, she'd be head-over-heels in love with the boy.

"Well, either way, thank you. I didn't like the jerk anyway."

"Good," he murmured.

Kairi could tell he was jealous, but decided it be best if she just kept her mouth shut, as the two walked back to their houses with the sunset peering over the horizon.


	5. A True Friend

Chapter 5

"You told her?! What the hell is your problem you fuck bitch ass shit wipe loser!"

Beautiful words that serves poetic nature justice. A fine way to start, indeed.

Sora was angrily stomping back and forth in Roxas' room. Roxas was strumming his acoustic guitar as Sora infuriatingly betrothed his privacy. Roxas didn't seem too fazed, though. He figured Sora was just overreacting.

"I can't believe you told Naminé about what I do, I should _kill _you right now!"

"Dude, what is the big freaking deal? So what if Naminé knows?"

"You idiot," Sora spat. Roxas was going to be the death of him. "She's obviously going to tell Kairi! I didn't want Kairi to know."

"Know what?"

"About what I do. She'd make fun of me all the time and I'd lose passion for it."

"About knowing how to perform?" Sora nodded. Sora was surprised when his brother burst out laughing."Are you serious, dude? Sora, some of the people who get laid the most are people who can sing and dance. Women think it's super sexy when a dude knows how to move. Have you not been paying attention to the trivial fabrics of America?"

"What are you, some kind of women expertise?"

"I know enough. Need we be reminded that you have never had a girlfriend before? I've had plenty."

"Man-slut."

Roxas shrugged, "Maybe. But it's better than being a virgin."

"You've had sex before?"

"No, but I've had some extremely hot make-out sessions."

Sora rolled his eyes, "Idiot, that means you're still a virgin."

"Better than not having had your first kiss by the age of fifteen. That's pretty sad, dude. I had my first kiss when I was nine," Roxas set his guitar down.

"Since when were you such a cocky prick?"

"Look, all I'm saying is that what you do is okay. I mean, I get asked all the time by girls at the club for me to introduce them to you, but I know you probably didn't want that."

Sora scuffed in defeat. Fine, he wasn't a total loser, but one thing was for sure, "You better not bring Kairi to Paopu's Pallet tonight!"

"Relax, I wasn't planning on it."

Sora sighed in relief. He didn't want Kairi to see him on stage. "Good."

Sora walked out of Roxas' room and started preparing for his performance tonight. Roxas grinned devilishly as soon as Sora left, finishing his statement from earlier, "But I am now."

Roxas changed into the outfit he usually wore when going to Sora's performances. A white T-Shirt and a black vest with some skinny jeans. He put on a fedora as a compliment to the vest.

He looked himself in the mirror was happy with what he saw. Hopefully Naminé would think the same. Roxas tip toed out of his room, making sure Sora didn't hear him, and then he scurried off to the Lockhart residence.

Roxas knocked on the door and was met face-to-face with Kairi within moments. Kairi had hoped it was Sora, but Roxas was a decent enough replacement. "Oh, what's up?" She checked out his outfit and gave him a smirk. "Oh, you fancy, huh?"

Roxas chuckled. "Yeah, and you should be, too. Go get your sister and put on something nice. We're goin' out tonight."

"Okay, to where?"

"It's a surprised," the blond grinned.

* * *

Paopu's Pallet was a pretty packed joint. Even though they were minors, Roxas, Kairi, and Naminé were allowed in due to being friends (or in Roxas' case, related to) with Sora, courtesy of Roxas for calling the place's owner in advance. They just couldn't have any alcohol, of course.

Roxas and the girls found a table that had a 'reserved' card placed on it. Roxas sure did know what he was doing. Kairi and Naminé dolled up like Roxas said. Kairi had on a pink strapless dress that showed off her curves, while Naminé had on a white blouse and a black skirt that went just above her knees.

Roxas felt like a total badass to be sitting with these two gorgeous damsels. He never expected himself to be in this type of situation, but he surely wasn't going to complain.

"So, where's Sora?" asked Kairi. She was a little disappointed that her friend was no where in sight. If she had known Sora wasn't going to be here, she would have just stayed home.

"Oh, you'll see him soon enough," Roxas smirked.

The lights dimmed and a number of acts went on stage. The first, was a band that played terrible rock music, the second was a bunch of ballet dancers, and the third was some bad comedian.

Kairi was bored out of her mind. Why did Roxas bring them here? This place was the pure confinement of stale. It might have been a little more entertaining if she had a little alcohol, but they weren't going to budge.

A man in a tux walked onto the stage, with a microphone in hand after the comedian left.

"Sorry about having to show you those opening acts, ladies and gentlemen. Our main performer was running late today. But here he is, the kid you've been waiting for, Sora Hikari!"

The audience clapped, and Kairi's boredom went flying out the window. Roxas chuckled at her reaction. Naminé was sort of expecting it though, since Roxas told her about it yesterday. The curtain lifted, and the stage was lit up with blue and green lights.

In the background, were a bunch of trombone and trumpet players, along with some backup singers. One of the trombone players counted off, "One, two, three, huu!"

They started playing their instruments, while the backup singers began chanting.

_I be on my suit and tie, shit tied, shit tied_

_I be on my suit and tie, shit tied, shit_

_Let me show you a few things_

_A few things_

_A few things_

_Little baby, cause_

That repeated itself, and during the second time it was said by the backup singers, out walked Sora. He was dressed in a white dress shirt and a tight-fitting blazer, along with black slacks and black sneakers so that he could move around on stage easier.

As soon as he walked out, he received claps and praise. He must have had some kind of reputation. Sora looked at the crowd and gave him his _grin._ The grin Kairi adored the other day. Kairi thought Sora looked really good up there, and he looked so confident, too.

As they ended the intro to the song, one of the trumpet players spoke into their microphone, "You ready, Sora?"

Sora nodded and gave them a cue to start playing, as he sung the song, _Suit and Tie _by Justin Timberlake.

_I can't wait 'till I get you on the floor, good-lookin'~_

_Baby, goin' hot so hot, it's just like an oven~_

_And owww, burn myself, I just had to touch it~_

_It's so fire, it's all mine, hey baby~_

_We don't mind all the watchin', ha~_

_'Cause they study close, real close they might learn somethin'~ _

_She ain't nothin' but a little doozie when she does it~_

_She's so fire...tonight~_

_And as~_

Kairi was mesmerized. She had no idea Sora could sing with such a lovely voice, not only that, but he was dancing at the same time too. His dance style was so interesting to her, it was a combination of Michael Jackson and James Brown, with a mix of his own flair that just made him look undeniably sexy in her eyes.

Sora looked so...happy, on stage. This was the Sora that Aerith was talking about, this was the little boy before his father died. She could tell, he was happy up stage, and his emotions wore off to the audience as well. Everyone was enjoying themselves and clapping.

Naminé had to admit herself that Sora was really good. She now knew what Roxas meant when he told her yesterday that Sora could sing and dance, but now that she was actually seeing it, it was truly a sight to see.

Kairi always thought that if she ever caught Sora doing something like this, she'd laugh her ass off. Sora was always moody and easily irritated, so to see him do something so out-of-character should have been amusing...but it wasn't. The irony of it was, he seemed more _in _character than ever. He was truly being himself up there.

_Stop_

_Let me get a good look at it~_

_Ooh, so thick~_

_Now I know why they call it a fatty~_

_And aww~_

_Shit's-so-sick, go a hit and picked up a habit~_

_But that's alright, cause you're all mine~_

_And aww~_

_Go on and show 'em who you call daddy~_

_I guess they're just mad cause girl they wished hey had it~_

_Ooh, my killer my Thriller~_

_Yeah, you're a classic~_

_And you're all mine...tonight~_

_And as~_

_Long as I got my Suit and Tie~_

_I'mma leave it all on the floor tonight~_

_And you got fixed up to the nines~_

_Lemme show you a few things~_

_All pressed up in black and white, and ya dressed in that dress I like~_

_Love is swingin' in the air tonight, lemme show you a few things~_

_Lemme show you a few things~_

_Show you a few things...about love~_

_(Love, love, love) Now we're~_

_In the swing of love~_

_Lemme show you a few things~_

_Show you a few things...about love~_

_Get out ya seat, Beat_

Some rapper named Beat got up on the stage and started rapping, but Kairi wasn't paying attention. She was too busy staring at the sexy beast known as Sora Hikari right now.

Sora was moving to the rhythm like he owned it. Hell, he _did _own it. All eyes were on him. Nobody was paying attention to that wannabe Eminem rapper up there, just Sora, who's dance moves were almost intoxicating.

After Beat was finished with his rap verse, the chorus started up again and Sora sung a little bit more before he ended the song. He received a standing ovation for his hard work, and he was sweating pretty fiercely as well, but he was smiling. He bowed to the crowd and thanked the audience for their overwhelming praise. Sora's eyes wandered the audience to see that Roxas was giving him a wink and a thumbs up, and Naminé was waving at him, but the sight of Kairi standing up and clapping for him with much enthusiasm made him lose it.

No way, no way did she just she him perform! Everything started spinning, and he couldn't take it. He froze at the sight of his auburn companion and he couldn't stand to see it any longer. He ran backstage, discarding his face from anyone else's view. Everyone stopped clapping and looked concerned for the talented brunet, and that included Kairi.

"Wait, Sora-" she cried out. But it was too late. She didn't think twice before getting up on stage and running off to go find him.

She ran around looking for him, with some difficulty considering she wasn't familiar with the place. She noticed a security guard having a drink at one of the tables. She ran up to him and placed her hands on the table, "Do you know where Sora Hikari is?"

The security guard pointed to the door behind him that read "Exit" above it. Duh, why didn't she think of that before? "Thanks."

Kairi ran out of the door to find herself in an alleyway, she looked down beside her to see Sora sitting down, his back against the wall. He was hugging his knees with his face buried in his arms. Kairi walked by Sora and sat down next to him, wrapping an arm around the boy's shoulders.

The feel of someone's soft touch sent shivers down Sora intestines, and he looked up to see Kairi looking at him square in the face, her face expressing a concerned look. She never let him slip away, did she?

"You okay?"

Sora sighed. "So, now you know."

"Huh?"

"Now you know, I sing and dance for a living. I'm a wuss. You happy, now?"

Kairi looked at him with her indigo eyes with confusion saturated within the orbs. "How does that make you a wuss?"

"Don't you get it? I don't want to be a blitz ball player, or a football player, or a basketball player, or a struggle tournament champion, I want to be a singer, okay? I want to be something as weak as a singer."

Kairi was baffled. "That's what you're so upset about?"

"I figured you'd laugh at me."

Kairi was giggling _now_ as to how sensitive and naive Sora was, "Why would I laugh at you? Sora, as far as I'm concerned, being a singer is way cooler than being a football player, a basketball player, a blitz ball player, and a struggle tournament champion combined."

Sora was surprised. "You do?"

"Of course! Girls love that sort of thing. Have you not been paying attention to the screaming fans mainstream artists get today?"

Sora smiled, "Wow, I never really thought about that," he said rubbing his nose. "I always figured girls preferred the strong six-pack abs type of guy."

"It depends. But Sora, you're great a singer. I prefer seeing you perform rather than play basketball."

"Heh," he chuckled. " I feel kinda dumb. And here I was, thinking you were gonna label me as a loser and...and..."

Kairi waited for a finish to his sentence, but it never came. "And what?"

"I thought...that you would leave me. That's why I didn't want you to find out."

"Sora," Kairi said a little more sternly. "I promised, didn't I? I said that I wasn't going anywhere, and I meant that. I promised, and I don't break my promises."

Sora let his legs down and sat back, letting his back straighten against the wall. "I'm glad," he said. "You may be annoying, but I can't help but...I dunno."

"Do you still dislike me?" she asked. She was a little afraid to hear his answer.

Sora sighed a sigh of relief. "No...no, I don't, actually."

"So, you like me as a friend-"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

Kairi rolled her eyes playfully. He still wasn't budging, but it was okay. "Then how come you don't want me to leave you if you don't like me?"

Sora smiled, he couldn't even answer that for himself. "I don't know...there's just something about you. You remind me of my mother."

Kairi raised a brow, "I hope that's not a bad thing."

"It isn't," he assured. "You're not as crazy as my mom, but the similarity is there. My mom was always there for me, even when I rejected her. It's kind of the same thing with you."

Kairi felt at ease. So Sora didn't dislike her anymore. That was good, because she was starting to have weird feelings about him that she wasn't planning on telling him at the moment. "What made you want to start singing and dancing? How'd you get so good? And how'd you get a job here?"

Sora looked at her with a raised brow, "It's a long story."

Kairi shrugged, "I got time."

Sora chuckled. "It was a long time ago, it started back when I was nine years old."

_It had been three months since Sora's father had died along with his uncle and aunt. The shear bitterness he had after their deaths was faint, but it was still there. Sora was no longer cheerful or talkative. His usual conversations about his day to his mother had been reduced to a simple answer of 'fine', and he wouldn't go into any further detail. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anybody. _

_Roxas was beginning to find himself again. The toll of a loved ones death took a good shot at him as well, but he was in a much fairer state in recovery since he never had to see the death first-hand. Sora couldn't get over it, not with him being there at the sight of it all, and he felt guilty that they had all died and he didn't. What was so special about him? Why did he have to stay on this earth and feel the pain of loss? _

_One afternoon, Aerith came to pick Sora up from school, and like usual, he wasn't talking much. _

_"So," Aerith broke the silence. "How was school today?" _

_"Fine," Sora answered. It was the same answer everyday, so why would his mother even bother to continue asking him? _

_Aerith just used that last little sprite of hope that she maintained in her soul that one day when she asked the repetitive question, that Sora would answer like he used to before Cloud's passing. _

_Aerith saw no point in carousing themselves in silence, so she turned on the radio. Sora wasn't paying attention much, but the voice singing on the radio sounded different. He had never heard such a broad voice before. It sounded pretty good. _

_The lyrics of the song were stuck in his head for the rest of the day:_

_As he came into the window, it was the sound of, a crescendo~ _

_He came into her apartment, left the bloodstains, on the carpet~_

_She ran underneath the table, he could see she, was unable~_

_So she ran into the bedroom, she was struck down, it was her doom~_

_Annie are you okay? _

_So, Annie are you okay? Are you okay, Annie? _

_Annie are you okay? _

_So, Annie are you okay? Are you okay, Annie? _

_Annie are you okay? _

_So, Annie are you okay? Are you okay, Annie? _

_Annie are you okay? So, Annie are you okay? Are you okay, Annie?!_

_He had never heard a voice sound so passionate about what they were singing, even if he couldn't understand a word the singer was saying at the time. _

_Sora looked up to see his mother rocking to the song and snapping her fingers. _

_"Hey, uh, ma," Sora stuttered. Aerith looked at him a little surprised. _

_"Yes, sweetie?" _

_"Who is that on the radio?" _

_"That's Michael Jackson."_

_"Oh, so that's Michael Jackson..." Michael Jackson had died recently, so everybody was playing his music and dressing up like him at the time, but Sora payed it no attention. He never really cared for the singer before. In fact, he was quite scared of him. He saw the Thriller music video at a younger age and it freaked him out. After that, he wanted nothing to do with the King of Pop. "What's this song called?" _

_"Smooth Criminal. It's one of my favorites of his. I remember when I was a teenager in the 80s, goodness! Michael was HUGE. All the girls were going crazy over him, even guys. STRAIGHT, guys. One my girl friends even fainted at one of his concerts." _

_Sora thought about it for a second, he never knew Michael Jackson was such a big deal. He was wondering why the world practically imploded when it was announced that he was dead. But he always saw jokes being directed towards him on TV, so he figured nobody liked him too much. _

_"Well, if he was so big, then how come everybody laughs at him now?" _

_"My, aren't we the talker today? Usually I can't even get two sentences out of you, but I like this change," Aerith smiled. "Well, Michael was accused of some things that put out a pretty bad image for him. He was accused twice, but I never fell for it for a second. There was no evidence to conclude that he did anything remotely similar to what these people accused him for. It was just for the money. A lot of people were relieved when he was found not guilty on all counts, but a lot of people thought he still did it."_

_Sora frowned upon that, "If there was no evidence, why did people believe it?" _

_"People don't have a mind for themselves, sweetie. Well, at least they do, but they allow others to influence them and their beliefs. They believe whatever the media tells them. It sickens me how celebrities are always ridiculed for their flaws, as if they are supposed to be gods who do absolutely nothing wrong. They're human just like the rest of us. We judge them for everything them they do, as if us non-celebrities are total saints. That's just the kind of stuff the media has fed to society. I won't allow myself to be brainwashed." _

_Sora was a little shocked. His mother never said things like that too often. He always depicted his mom as the carefree, cheerful woman she always was. He wasn't used to this serious side of her. _

_"Oh, I'm sorry, Sora, I guess I got a little carried away."_

_"No, no, it's cool," said boy. "I actually agree with you."_

_Later on that evening, Sora was on the computer in the living room. He went on YouTube to look up Michael Jackson some more. He came across a bunch of songs, and he enjoyed all of them a lot. He was still too scared to look up Thriller, that would have to come another day. One song in particular that really stood out to him, it was Billie Jean. _

_He loved the retro sound, the funky bassline, and the chorus, it almost made him want to...dance? He didn't even like dancing, that was odd. He resisted the temptation. He came across a video that had showed Michael performing Billie Jean in front of a live audience, and Sora was shocked, the man could seriously dance. _

_The dancing he ever truly saw in his lifetime was break-dancing, and that looked way to complicated for his liking, and ballet, which was beyond boring to watch. He thought break-dancing and ballet were the only real styles of professional dance. But the style Michael had was so...different, and creative. It was so thought out, that anyone could do a pose, and anyone would know exactly who they're talking about. _

_Then what really caught Sora off-guard was when Michael slid his feet backwards to make it look like he was walking forward, but something was pulling him back. He supposed that this was the moonwalk that he had heard so much about, but he never really saw it before. It was too cool for him to describe._

_ Roxas, Sora's twin brother came out of kitchen chewing on a banana. "Roxas! Come here, check this out!"_

_Roxas walked over to see what the fire was and peered over to look at the computer screen. After he saw the moonwalk, he chuckled. "That is pretty cool." _

_"I know, I gotta learn it!" _

_"Tch, I can do that." _

_"Do it, then." _

_Roxas tossed his banana in the trash and did a lousy spin move. Then he did the "moonwalk", which was pretty much just Roxas merely walking backwards. Roxas wasn't paying attention and ended up falling back on one of the chairs and tugging onto the window curtain for leverage. _

_Roxas tumbled onto the ground and looked kind of embarrassed. _

_Sora laughed at Roxas' failed moonwalk attempt. "Yup, you're Jackson Junior, alright," he said sarcastically. _

_"Whatever, just shut up help me get the curtain back up before ma sees."_

_Little Sora began looking up all the tutorials and videos he could to teach him the moonwalk. He eventually learned how to do it, but only to the point of mediocre. After about two weeks of getting into Michael Jackson music, Sora finally decided that he should start learning how to do all of his dance moves. _

_There was a talent show that was to be held at the end of the school year, and maybe if he learned how to dance quick enough, he could impress all the kids at school and make some friends. He didn't have any friends. _

_As time progressed, his interest with Michael Jackson had grown into an admiration, and quickly became not only a fan of his music and artistry, but Michael as a person. He learned that Michael spent a lot of his time doing charity work and helping the poor and unfortunate, which Sora could truly respect. He learned about his songs like Man In the Mirror, Heal The World, and Earth Song. These were songs that tried to make a difference in the world for the better, and help those who were lost in the game we call life._

_Nobody made songs like that anymore. No, today it was all about drugs, sex, and money. Michael Jackson had become Sora's role model, he wanted to be just like him when he grew up, and during this time, he decided he wanted to be a singer, create music that people could enjoy, and change the world into a better place. He ended up buying a bunch of MJ CDs, and got a big poster of Michael from the cover of his "BAD" album._

_Sora spent the next four months practicing day in and day out. It was hard work trying to learn all of the moves, but he figured that he was getting the hang out it. Sora performed Billie Jean in front of his mother and Roxas to get their opinion. In Sora's mind, he felt like he was doing a great job. But the reality is, you can't learn how to sufficiently dance in only a couple months, so it wasn't very good...at all. But Sora didn't have to know that, so Aerith and Roxas just pretending like he was doing good, and decided to just wait until he got a bit better to truly give him his praise._

_Little did they know he was preparing for a talent show. If they had known that, they would have told him what he was doing wrong and what he could improve on, and try to convince little Sora to perhaps wait until next year to perform, since he was still an obvious amateur. But Sora never told them, he wanted to keep it a secret until the big night. _

_Eventually that night came, and Sora asked his mother to take him to school even though it was six o' clock. She asked him why, but he only responded, "It's a surprise!" Aerith was glad that Sora was excited about something, but she hated the suspense. "Don't worry, ma, I'm gonna make you proud!" _

_Aerith smiled in response, but what could he be doing that would make her proud? _

_They arrived at the school, and it was packed. There were adults, and kids from fourth grade to sixth grade. Roxas couldn't come since he was out with relatives. Aerith took a seat in the middle of the audience, waiting for something to happen. Soon, the lights dimmed and everyone clapped that the show was starting up. _

_The Principal of the school, Mr. Vexen Stephan Prince stepped onto the stage, a microphone in hand. "Good evening, parents, students. We are happy to welcome you to the end of the school year talent show for grades four through six." _

_The audience clapped in anticipation, but Aerith froze. This could not be happening, Sora wasn't going to go up on stage, was he? He was going to embarrass himself in front of all these people, and it would be her fault for not being honest with him. But what could she do now? She had been trapped in the dead middle of the house, and she didn't know how to get to the backstage area. She panicked, trying to figure out what she could do to save her poor baby from something that could be a traumatic experience. Stage incidents didn't abode well to many people. _

_Many acts were performed by talented young kids. There were acrobats, singers, dance groups, even skateboarding prodigy's. It was a cute little show, but Aerith's heart was racing. When was it going to be Sora's turn? The suspense was now eating her alive and spitting out her arbitrary after its feast._

_Hope began to spring in her heart. Perhaps he wasn't going to perform. Maybe he just wanted her to see the show, and he probably just had to work the lights and stage crew or something. Aerith sighed a sigh of relief as she let her nerves calm down. But of course, fate likes to screw around with us a little bit, because just then was when Sora walked on stage, wearing a black sequinned jacket, black pants, leather penny loafers, and a single white rhinestone glove. _

_There was a fedora placed under the microphone stand. Sora looked at the audience with confidence, he seemed to not have stage fright. _

_Aerith started panicking again, every relaxed inch of her body tensed up within milliseconds of seeing her boy on-stage. But she tried calming down again, maybe Sora had improved. It had been about two months since he last asked her to watch him do one of his little dances, but it wasn't very good from what she recalled. But two months was enough to get better, right? _

_Sora pointed to the back, indicating he was ready. And the drum beat dropped, and Sora put on his fedora hat. The iconic bassline entered, and Sora began his performance. _

_It was...just as bad as Aerith feared. He was off balance, his moves were no where near as sharp as they should be, and he looked like he was trying too hard. What made it worse was the fact that he was smiling as if he were doing a great job, but he didn't notice that a lot of the audience was stifling their laughter. _

_When it came time to do the moonwalk, Sora did the little routine, then he busted out the backslide, but it was terrible. It was sloppy and slow, and he did on his toes rather than the tip of his toes, which was how Michael did it. _

_He ended up slipping on the sole of his shoe and tumbled onto the floor, he didn't even get the chance to get to the spin and tip toe stand before he screwed up. _

_And the audience lost it. _

_Any methods of concert etiquette was thrown on the floor and stomped on as everyone in the audience except for Aerith laughed at the poor little nine-year old who just messed up any chances of winning this show for showcasing of ones talents. All civility was no longer in existence within the depths of this auditorium. Even the adults couldn't hold back any longer. _

_Things like 'what a loser' and 'did he think he was good or something?' was heard from a lot of fourth through six grader audience members. Sora looked at the audience and it began to sink in that he wasn't as good as he thought he was. It was all a waste of time, he was worthless, useless. He was never going to get any friends now. Sora covered his eyes and ran backstage. _

_"Sora!" Aerith called out. She no longer cared about being rude to the audience members by scrunching herself out of the aisle, she was practically punching all of them in the faces as she tried getting out of the aisle looking for her son. The audience was full of immature creeps. She understood the little kids perhaps, but the adults should have had some self-control._

_Aerith walked out of the auditorium, and with luck, saw Sora running out of the front door. "Sora!" Aerith ran after him and repeatedly called his name. _

_After hearing his name being called a couple times, Sora stopped and turned to his mother. Aerith felt her heart crack seeing the tears race down his puffy cheeks. _

_"Why'd you lie to me, ma? You said I was good! I was going to make you proud!" _

_Aerith hugged her son like there was no tomorrow. "I'm sorry, Sora, I'm so, so sorry..." She should have just told him from the start on how he could improve, and then he wouldn't have had to suffer. "I am proud of you, Sora, that was a brave thing you did, but I'm sorry for not telling you sooner..."_

_Sora soon forgave her. If anything, he was mad at himself for getting his hopes up. He should have told Roxas or something about what he thought about with Sora entering the talent show, then he could at least know what to work on and how to prepare, but of course, he kept it all to himself. He promised himself that he would never overlook things again and get his hopes up, he didn't want to suffer the chance of his hopes being slapped in the face with a cold awakening of reality ever again. (This is the reason why Sora rejected Kairi when he first met her. He didn't want to go through the possibility that she wasn't mutual with his potential feelings for her.)_

_Aerith took Sora home, and the first thing he did when he got into his room was take his poster of Michael Jackson and rip it into two shreds. _

_"This is all your fault!" he yelled at the torn paper. Sora threw the torn poster on the ground and stomped on it. "Why?! Why did you do this to me?" _

_Sora grabbed a nearby action figure of his and threw it angrily. It happened to hit his CD Player, and a Michael Jackson song started playing. _

_I'm gonna make a change, for once in my life~_

_Gonna feel real good, gonna make a difference, gonna make it right~_

_As I, turned up the collar on, my favorite winter coat, this wind is blowin' my mind~_

_I see the kids in the street, with not enough to eat~_

_Who am I?_

_To be blind? _

_Pretending not to see their needs~_

_Sora stopped his rage. He was about to break the CD, but the lyrics of the song almost restricted him from doing so. What was he thinking? It wasn't Michael's fault that he messed up, it was his own. He forgot who Michael was for a second there, and forgot about how much he was inspired by him deeply. Sora calmed down and sat on his floor, hugging his knees as he listened to the song. _

_I'm starting with the, Man in the Mirror~_

_I'm asking him to change his ways~_

_And no message could have been any clearer~_

_If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, and make a change~_

_It was as if the deceased singer was talking directly at Sora. He couldn't give up now, he wasn't perfect, right? Everybody makes mistakes, but Sora just had to learn from them. And he had. Sora taped his poster back up and hung it on the wall again. _

_Sora wasn't going to let this incident get the better of him, so he did what he thought made sense: he got better. He was gonna show all the people at school who laughed at him that they were being a bunch of idiots. He was gonna prove all of them wrong. Sora danced the rest of that night with passion and love. He didn't try to dance like he was trying to learn, he danced how he felt, how the music made him feel. It was the birth of the style he created for himself. _

_Every time Sora had a bad day or got beat up when walking back home from the store or the library, he would dance and sing to make himself feel better. There wasn't a day that went by when he didn't dance. He always imagined the same audience that laughed in his face, and mocked them as he pretending he was on top of the world when he performed. _

_Over time, Sora started getting into other artists that influenced his dance style. Instead of just doing MJ moves, he started working on his own style. He studied all types of dancers, from James Brown, to Cab Calloway, to Prince, to Justin Timberlake...even Elvis! The last time he ever showed Roxas and Aerith a dance was when he was thirteen years old. He hadn't asked them to ever since that fateful night at the talent show. He wanted to wait until he was confident enough in his own abilities so that he could show how much he improved next time around. _

_And improved he did! _

_Aerith and Roxas were completely stunned at Sora. Not only was he like a dance prodigy at this point, but he was singing like a prodigy as well. This time they were genuine about his talents, and not just saying what he wanted to here, and they kept asking Sora to show them more songs he could dance to. Sora now learned the difference between people being nice, and when they truly meant what they said. _

_After that, Roxas kept encouraging Sora to dance in front of the girls in the neighborhood, assuring to him that he'd "get some digits", but Sora was just too shy. He just practiced and practiced and practiced all alone in his room. _

_It kind of disappointed Roxas. Whenever he tried to get them dates with twins, he'd try to milk in the fact that his brother could sing and dance really good to sucker the girls in, but Sora would always refuse to prove Roxas true, and the girls Roxas would try to get would usually not agree to a date unless Roxas got his brother to come along. It'd be awkward with two women with just one guy. _

_Roxas got fed up with Sora's shyness and stubbornness and just asked him to teach him how to dance, which Sora saw no harm in doing. Roxas would just show it off himself. _

_When Sora and Roxas were a few weeks from turning fourteen, Aerith lost her part-time job as a waitress, and that meant they were going to be in some serious financial struggles if something didn't happen, and quick. The stress of the whole world crumbling before her got to Aerith and she ended up getting really sick. _

_Aerith spent years taking care of her children with the utmost care she could possibly deliver, so Sora and Roxas took it upon themselves to find jobs and take care of her for once, despite the fact they were only thirteen. _

_They searched all over town to try and find jobs that would keep them financially covered, but no one was willing to hire a bunch of pathetic kids, who were just barely teenagers. Roxas was distressed, he thought all had come to an end. Aerith was hurt pretty bad, something was up with her kidney, so she wouldn't be able to get up and just work again. And what could Sora and Roxas do? All had seemed lost. _

_Sora told his brother not to give up yet, they still had a chance at survival. Even though he didn't want to, he had to face his fears and perform again. It was the last thing they could resort to. Sora went out and found a relatively busy street and placed his fedora on the ground, the inside facing upward. Sora put down a beaten up boom box. It was old and damaged, but it could still get the job done. _

_He played some dubstep music and began dancing to the beat, doing the best he could to attract bystanders. People checked to see what the big racket was, and they all crowded around to see the cute little thirteen-year old dancing as if he were a twenty-three year old. _

_Sora was doing such a good job, he got a good five hundred munny in his fedora hat (which is really only like fifty bucks) and much praise from his on-lookers. One man in particular found him interesting, and invited Sora to his bar, Paopu's Pallet. His name was Xehanort, Sora recognized him as the father of one his basketball buddies, Xemnas. _

_The man offered Sora a job to perform at the bar every Saturday, and he'd pay him ten thousand munny every two weeks of a job well done. Sora was ecstatic and couldn't thank Xehanort enough, and soon ran home to tell his brother Roxas, who was also very excited and couldn't wait for the munny to be rolling in. _

_Soon, Aerith got out of the hospital and was pleased that Sora took the mantle of being the true man of the house, earning munny for them to get by with. She was more proud of Sora than she had ever been. _

"So," Sora sighed, "here I am. I guess you basically know my whole life story."

Kairi was looking at him with her eyes so intensely. His story was so sad and yet so inspirational. The way Sora looked up to MJ was the way she was looking up Sora now. He was such a strong person, and he tried to hide behind this facade that he cared for no one.

"I know, I'm not the most interesting guy in the world, but-"

"Stop that!" Kairi interrupted. Sora was taken back by her sudden outburst. "Stop beating yourself up! You're not a wuss, you're not a loser, and you're not uninteresting! Have some faith in yourself, Sora! You," she placed a hand on his cheek, "are the strongest person I've ever met. You're a great person. And I admire you for it..." She pecked her lips on his cheek, and he placed his hand on the spot she just kissed when she pulled back. "Stop putting yourself down."

Sora smiled at her, "Thanks, Kai. I hate to admit it, but...you've really been a good friend."

That was the first time he truly admitted that she was his friend. Sure, it was implied but he never really said it or admitted to it. He started truly considering her a friend after he let his emotions out in front of her a couple days ago.

Kairi gave him a smile, "I'm glad you finally said that."

"Don't get used to it," he said with a smirk, folding his hands behind his head. He still had to keep up appearances.

Kairi rolled her eyes with a smile. Same old Sora. "Asshole."

"Bitch." Then they burst into laughter.

"Well, I'm gonna head inside. Roxas and Naminé are probably worried about us."

"I'll catch up."

Kairi stood up and dusted herself off. She headed to the door and opened it, before turning back to Sora with a smirk on her face.

"Oh, and Sora..."

"Hm?" he said, turning his face to her.

"You're _really _hot when you're performing. Toodles!" And with that, Kairi walked back into Paopu's Pallet.

Sora felt an intense heat rise up to his cheeks. He rubbed them to try to make the blush wear off. Why would she do that? Just say something so stupid and run off like it was no big deal? What did she mean by that? Was she implying something? Should he do something about it? So many questions running through his head, meaning that he was only falling into the trap she created. He didn't know whether to be happy, or mad, or confused, or irritated or-Gah! Why'd she have to be so annoying?!

Perhaps that was why he liked her...as his friend.

* * *

**A/N: Part of this was a true story. everything in sora's flashback while telling the story was true except for the talent show thing, and the job thing. i wish i could make money off my dancing :( but anyways, i hope you liked this chap. it was kinda hard to come up with an idea for this one because i didnt know where i was going with it for a while. and i dont own suit and tie by justin timberlake. not sure if i had to say that but just being safe**


	6. Jealousy

Chapter 6

It was school time again. The weekend has ended and it was time for fun, right? Time for that wonderful experience throughout a teenagers life that excites them into the fabrication of an intense learning demeanor, right?

No. Fuck school, and fuck Monday.

It was a groggy morning for Sora as he ate his cereal in the living room, Roxas sitting next to him. They were both tired, having had spent their whole day with Kairi and Naminé yesterday, it had worn them out.

Aerith was her chipper, usual self this morning, having had a full days rest yesterday. She was on the phone, trying to get the repairman in soon so that he could fix the plumbing issue with their sink.

"Yes, I need it done pretty soon. What time? Hm...I'm pretty flexible," she said talking into the phone.

Sora gave her an irritated look. Was she an idiot? You don't just say 'I'm pretty flexible' without being accused of being a flirt these days. He sighed, his mother would never learn.

The doorbell rang, and just in time too, since Sora had just finished his breakfast. Sora put his bowl in the sink, he and Roxas shared their secret handshake, and he left without a word. He opened the door and it was Kairi, as expected.

"You ready?" he asked.

"Are you a fucking mental patient? Of course I'm fucking ready, or else I wouldn't have fucking came here," she said a little irritably.

Sora was wide-eyed, that was the first time she ever truly got mad at him. He walked out the door and shut it behind him. "Um, did I do something to upset you or something?"

Kairi started rubbing her messy hair, "Sorry about that. I just _hate _the mornings. I don't even like being talked to before eight thirty."

Now _there _was something they had in common. They both despised the morning, unless it were on Saturday or Sunday. That was the only time Sora didn't mind waking up. The sun usually shun in his room as he would glance at his alarm clock, reading a beautiful 11:30 AM and the blissful feeling of not having to do jack shit.

* * *

Sora and Kairi made it to first period soon enough and sat next to each other, earning glances from many of the students. Who was the new kid that Kairi kept hanging out with? Most of them didn't remember that Sora had been a freshmen with them, so they figured he was new. Sora and Kairi didn't pay the glances any mind, they just wanted to get the day over with.

Selphie walked up to Kairi with a smile. "Hey, Kairi!"

Kairi looked up at Selphie with lazy eyes, "Huh? Oh. Hey. Whatever."

"Cheer up, Kai! Aren't you happy to be alive?" Selphie said, twirling with enthusiasm.

"Not if you don't settle that 'cheerful' ass down," Kairi responded.

"Nice," Sora said as they gave each other a high-five. He liked this version Kairi. She was like a female version of him.

"Jeez, Kairi, I know you were never an early bird, but gosh! Can I talk to you in private?"

Selphie just dragged her to a spot with no one generally around and began in whisper. "You know," she said with caution. "people are beginning to think oddly of you."

Kairi raised a brow, "What do you mean?"

"Everybody thinks it's just weird how you keep hanging with um...Laura," Selphie said, pointing to the brunet who just shut his eyes into a nap on his desk.

"That's Sora," Kairi said, rolling her eyes. "And I don't really care what people are saying about me, if you didn't notice. It's just words. Besides, Sora's a pretty cool guy once he warms up to you a little bit."

"Whatever happened to the time you two weren't getting along? I was beginning to think you were coming back to your senses."

"I am in my senses, you're just a shallow little princess who judges exteriors and take them for interiors and-why am I still in this conversation?"

Kairi began walking off but her arm was tugged. "Kairi..." Selphie looked almost scared at this point. "Come back to us...I miss you. I want my best friend back. Kairi...are we still friends?"

Kairi had to think about it for a moment. It was a good question. Kairi had been hanging out with Sora so much that she barely gave her old friends any thought. But Selphie was still there when she needed her, and Riku was there since she was just a kid, and Olette always helped her in times of need, and Tidus was always the...you get the idea.

They were being judgmental, something Kairi hated to see in others. But did that mean she had to dump them completely for one person?

Kairi sighed, relieving herself from some of the stress she was containing. "Yeah, we are. It's just...I don't know. Sora really needs a friend right now, and it's looking like I'm the only one up to do that."

Kairi walked back to her seat and sat down as she and Sora got into conversation. Riku was looking at this from the corner of his eye, not particularly liking what he saw. Remember what Riku said earlier? If anybody were to get in his way of getting Kairi to be his girl this year, asses were to be kicked? That rule still applied.

Kairi was putting on some lip gloss. "We should go to Paopu's Pallet later on and grab something to eat. You can get, like a discount there, right?"

Sora shrugged, "I dunno. I actually never really thought about eating there before. So what, is it gonna be like me, you, Roxas, and Naminé?"

Kairi looked at him with a blank expression. "No, I was hoping it'd just be you and me. I'm not in the mood to be around too many people today."

"I feel you," Sora replied casually. In all honesty, however, he was getting a little nervous.

Sora + Kairi + Alone = Date?

No no no no no no no no, this wasn't a date. Just two friends grabbing a bite together. It was just him going out for a bite with a really hot girl...Okay, what's the definition of a date again? An engagement to go out socially with another person, often out of romantic interest. Okay, maybe it was a half-date. Sora just didn't have any romantic feelings about Kairi.

"We'll meet at the bus stop right after school."

"Whatever you say, mistress."

Kairi playfully slapped Sora's arm. Riku was burning with anger as he fiercely glared at Sora, that should have been _him _this year.

* * *

After an antagonizing forty five minutes of the ever so interesting class of Mr. Newburn, Sora and Kairi took separate ways as they headed to class. Sora was walking down the hall casually, praying this school day would end soon. It wouldn't be so bad, but it was _Monday. _A hand grabbed his shoulder, and he chuckled.

"Kairi, if you're trying to scare me or something, it's not working."

Sora was then shoved straight into one of the lockers with brute force. Why was Kairi so angry? And since when did she get so strong?

"Kairi, what the heck is wrong with you?!" But it wasn't Kairi. It was Riku, and he looked pretty pissed at the moment. "What's your problem, man?"

"_You're_ my problem. You're always hanging around Kairi. I was supposed to be the one she hung out with all the time," said Riku as he clenched his fist.

Sora raised a brow. "You mean, you want to date her?"

"What's it to you?"

Sora calmly removed Riku's arm away from his chest. "Then you don't have anything to worry about. There's nothing going on between me and Kairi. We're just friends."

Now it was Riku's turn to raise a brow. "You mean, there's nothing going on between you and Kairi?"

"What are you, a parrot? I just said that, didn't I?"

"You sure about that? You and Kairi seem to have gotten awfully close really fast."

Sora couldn't deny that. For two people who just met, Sora and Kairi had been through a bit, and their bond was growing quickly. But Sora, despite having an honestly _small _thing for Kairi, wasn't interested in having a girlfriend right now. He had other things to worry about, like maintaining his job.

"Yeah, okay, we're pretty close, I'll admit it. You'd be surprised about how much has happened between the two of us within the last five days, but I'm not concerned about girls in that sense right now, and I don't need the distraction. Basically what I am saying, my hot-tempered 'in desperate need of a haircut' amigo, is if you want to go out with Kairi, it's fine by me."

"You sure?"

Sora put a hand on his shoulder, "Knock yourself out." Sora didn't have the time or patience for this trivial conversation. He was about to be late for class anyway, he needed to get away from this pretty boy punk, like now.

"Alright, but if I find out that there's some funny business going on between the two of you, there'll be hell to pay."

Sora walked off and put his hand up as assurance, "Don't sweat it."

* * *

The rest of the day was a snore. Finally, Sora and Kairi met up at the bench like Kairi said to earlier.

"You got your wallet?" asked Kairi as soon as they sat down.

Sora looks at her annoyingly, "Oh, so just because I'm the guy it means I automatically have to pay?"

"Tch, that, and need I remind you that you have a job?"

"I knew telling you about my job was going to come back to haunt me."

"Smart boy," she said as she grinned. Sora leaned back and closed his eyes. "So, anything interesting happen today?"

He ignored her.

"Fine, let me just tell you about my day."

And so she did. She rambled on and on even as they were on the bus. Eventually Sora built up the energy to tell her about the whole Riku situation, which caught her by surprise.

"So, Riku...likes me?"

"Looks like it. Said if you and me were caught in any funny business, it would mean bad news for me."

"As if _that _would ever happen."

"That's what I said. But the big lug wouldn't budge. I had to convince him to back off and then I was late to class because of him."

"This is bad, Sora. I like Riku, but I don't _like _Riku. Not in that way."

Whoa, stop the presses! So there is actually a girl who isn't obsessing themselves with fantasies of riding the 'great' Riku's assets at the Academy? Was that even feasible?

"You don't like Riku at all? None whatsoever?"

"I just said I liked him as a friend, dumbass," she spat.

"I just figured every girl in the school had dreams of getting to get some of that Riku wood."

It took Kairi a few moments to register what Sora meant until she felt disgust riding within her. "Ew! Why would you bring that up?"

Sora looked at her like she was from Mars before chuckling. "Sorry, I just thought you wouldn't mind giving him a good choke on his stick, that's all."

Kairi covered her ears, "Shut up shut up shut up shut up!" she cried. Sora couldn't help but get a kick out of this. He finally found her weakness, and it was the fact that she was scared to hear about sex. He was going to have fun with that.

"Wow, really Kairi?"

"Quit talking about that shit! It's repulsive..."

"What are you? Six? You're still sensitive to sex innuendos? I thought you were badass."

"I _am _badass, I just don't want someone bad...to...uh...pound my ass..."

Sora gave her an odd look. If that were an attempt at a joke or something, it was terrible.

"I couldn't think of anything clever, so sue me."

"Whatever. Anyways, back on topic, what are you gonna do about Riku?"

Kairi tapped her chin while pondering, it was a good question. She didn't want to hurt him, but she definitely did not want to go out with him. It would ruin eleven years worth of friendship in the long run, let alone the simple fact that she just didn't want to be with him.

Should she give him a chance? Perhaps feelings would emerge with the conduct of romanticism. She had never seen Riku's romantic side (well, she has but failed to take in all of the hints Riku was throwing at her).

"Should I give him a chance?" she asked, her eyes a little concerned.

"Do whatever the hell you want," said Sora. Just then, their stop arrived and they got off, heading to Paopu's Pallet. Kairi was trying to decide what should be the right decision. The fact that Riku threatened Sora wasn't favoring him, but perhaps if she went out with him, he would leave Sora alone.

As they were walking, a girl skipped up them with a non-threatening face and waved to them. "Hi!"

Kairi returned the smile, "Hi." Sora was looking a little suspicious. The girl was cute and looked about fifteen years old, the same age as Sora and Kairi. She had short black hair, she had on denim shorts, a black shirt with a beige vest, it was a nice outfit but it looked tattered and worn out. She seemed harmless enough, but Sora couldn't shake the weird feeling.

"What's your name?" the girl said, directed at Sora.

Sora and Kairi shared a glance. This girl seemed oddly friendly. "My name's Sora."

The girl gave him a seductive look as she got closer to him, rubbing on Sora's chest, "You're really cute," she finally said.

Sora's face turned a bright shade of red. Kairi was now irritated with this girl. Who did she think she was, just saying something like that? She noticed Kairi standing right next to him right? Did she not consider the fact that Sora and Kairi might be going out or something? Not that they were, but still. Kairi crossed her arms in annoyance. Sora began rubbing the back of his head.

"Uh...thanks," Sora said shyly. Kairi rolled her eyes.

"Okay, well, me and my friend here kind of have to go," Kairi said as she pushed Sora out of the girls way and scowled at her.

"Later," the suspicious girl smiled. She started skipping off in her own direction.

Sora and Kairi began walking again and gave Kairi a look. She looked pretty steamed. "What's up with you?"

"That girl was weird," she replied with a distasteful look. Sora gave her a grin, not his goofy, lovable grin, but a mocking, accusing grin. "What?"

"You jealous 'cause she said I was cute?"

"Tch, no! She was just weird! I mean, who the heck just says that out of nowhere like that?"

"Like how you told me I was really hot when on stage Saturday...?"

"That's different, you're my friend. She was a complete stranger."

Sora then felt his pockets, and..."It's gone!"

Kairi looked at him confused. "What are you yapping about now?"

"My wallet, it's gone!" Sora turned around where he saw the cute girl running away. "Hey!"

Sora ran after her, and Kairi followed.

The girl ran into an alleyway with a smirk plastered on her lips. But before she could go any further, Sora landed right in front her (he was able to jump that high due to his dunking ability), his face not too pleasant at the moment, and with good reason.

The girl got a little frightened and started backing up, chuckling nervously. The girl then began running back the other way, but was soon met face-to-face with an angry-looking Kairi Lockhart. That was it, she was cornered.

Kairi grabbed the girl by the arm and started putting the pressure on her.

"ARGH! Watch it, will ya?!" said the girl.

Sora walked up to them and smirked at Kairi, placing a hand on his hip. "Damn, Kai."

Kairi smiled at him, "My mom knows martial arts."

Sora nodded and then glared at the girl. He put out his hand, "Wallet please."

The girl cautiously handed it over. "No hard feelings, eh guys? Heh heh heh..."

Kairi wasn't convinced. "What should we do with her, Sora?"

Sora examined the girl. She looked like she had been in a rough situation, what with her clothes not being so fresh. Maybe they should find out the situation was with her before jumping to conclusions. "Let her go."

Kairi gave him a confused look, but did as told. The young woman gave Kairi a glare as she tried getting the feeling back in her arm. "Jeez, chick, anger management much?"

Kairi was tempted to slap the obnoxious girl, who should have been grateful Kairi didn't object to Sora's wishes, or else she'd have broken her arm. Sora walked up to the girl and put a hand on her shoulder, "So...what was that all about?"

The girl crossed her arms stubbornly, refusing to trust Sora, "Simple method, needed money, saw you, jacked you. It's as easy as that, got a problem?"

"Actually I do, that's kind of my wallet you stole. Not a sociologist but I'm pretty sure the average person wouldn't like that." The girl just rolled her eyes, he wasn't getting to her. He sighed and gave her a warm smile, "What's your name?"

The girl peered an eye open, "Why?"

"It's called being friendly, you should look it up some time," Sora teased.

"Okay, Mr. Comedian, the name's Yuffie," said girl as she put up the peace sign.

"Yuffie, are you...poor?"

Yuffie's face went from stubborn to sad. "What's it to you?"

"Just trying to help."

"Well, you're not, okay?! So can I go now?"

Deja vu. Was this how he acted when Kairi was trying to help him out? He must have been a serious pain in the butt.

"Yuffie...no one should have to suffer, okay? I'll help you if you want, but first you have to trust me. Instead of stealing my wallet, we can just go to Paopu's Pallet and I'll buy you something, okay?"

The thought of food was starting to take its course with Yuffie. She looked at Sora with unsure eyes. "You'd do that?"

Sora gave her his _grin _and nodded, "Sure."

"Wow, um...okay. Thanks." Yuffie had never come across someone so kind.

"Come on, then, we'll help you out," Sora said as he put his hand out. "I'm Sora."

Yuffie, instead of shaking his hand, wrapped her arms around him and pulled Sora into a bear hug. "Thanks, Sora!"

Sora could barely breathe as he struggled to get out of her grasp. Kairi giggled, "I'm Kairi."

"Hiya, Kai!" she said very chipper. Kairi sweat dropped, don't tell her this was going to be another Selphie.

"Well, come on! Let's go eat!" Yuffie took Sora and Kairi's hands and sprinted off in the direction of the Paopu's Pallet. Man, this girl sure was strong even if she didn't look it. Sora and Kairi were practically hovering over the ground due to the speed Yuffie ran at.

* * *

Finally, the three arrived at Paopu's Pallet. They found a table, and ordered their food, which Sora and Kairi had to help Yuffie out with since she had never been to a restaurant before. She was practically jumping for joy at the thought of finally getting a meal. From the petty money she would usual, in her mind, 'borrow', Yuffie would only be able to get scraps.

"Ohmigosh, I've never been in this place before! I'd pass by it all the time, and wondered what it was like inside," said an enchanted Yuffie.

"You should see it at night," said Sora.

"Yeah, especially on Saturdays, when Sora here performs. He's so good!" said the auburn-haired beauty.

Sora gave her a pouty look, "Cut it out..."

"Stop being so modest, Sora is an amazing dancer!"

"I'm _okay._"

Yuffie looked at the two for a second with a blank stare, "So, what's the deal with you two? Are you guys dating?"

Sora and Kairi were getting used to being asked this question. Whenever they would go out to the park or to take a walk, random people always ask them the same thing. "No," they replied in unison.

"We get asked that all the time," Kairi smiled.

"I can see why, you two would make the cutest couple ever!" Yuffie squealed.

Kairi gave her a smile, while Sora only groaned. "Anyway," he rudely commented. Kairi just rolled her eyes.

"Don't mind him," Kairi excused. "He's just a jerk sometimes."

Sora scuffed, making Yuffie giggle. Sora looked at her with a sympathetic smile, "You know, for someone who seems to have had a rough life, you seem pretty upbeat."

"Hey, no matter how bad it seems, it could always be worse," she smiled.

Sora nodded in agreement. "So," he said, trying to get a real conversation started. "Where do you live?"

"An apartment over by West Central."

"You have you're own place?" asked Kairi, longing to have her own place as well.

Yuffie smiled, "I guess you could say that."

"Wow, that's so cool, I want my own place so bad...I _hate _it where I live. My sister is so annoying," Kairi complained.

Sora looked at her with an amused face, "You mean Naminé?"

Kairi nodded. "Don't let her little innocent act fool you, she's a demon when we're alone."

Sora took a sip from his drink and looked around. "Man, where's the food?"

As if on cue the waitress came back with their orders. Kairi had fish, while Yuffie had ramen and rice balls. Sora wasn't too hungry, so he just got something to eat for the girls. He didn't mind paying for it, as long as these two were fed, he was okay. Sora and Kairi sweat dropped when Yuffie started eating rather rambunctiously. Can't blame her, though, she never had real food before.

"This is so good!" Yuffie said with a mouth full. "I should tag along with you guys more often!" A smudge of her food was tossed from her mouth and landed on Kairi's cheek, which Kairi flicked off with disgust. "Oops, tee hee, sorry 'bout that!"

Kairi gave her a reassuring look, but in her head was really irritated. This girl just couldn't stop doing things to get on her nerves, even if it was unintentional. Kairi was trying to be nice, but Yuffie wasn't making it very easy.

Yuffie chewed with her puffy cheeks, taking in the taste of the delicious delight of steamy hot ramen covered in soy sauce having a party on her taste buds. She gulped it down as the hot sensation swirled down into her belly. "So yummy!"

Sora couldn't help but chuckle at Yuffie's cuteness. She was like a kid at a candy store. She pretty much was. Kairi noticed the look on Sora's face and wasn't too fond of it. He never looked that way when he looked at _her. _

"Thank you so so so so so much for this, Sor! This is the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me," Yuffie said.

"No problem," Sora said.

"I'm sorry for trying to steal your wallet earlier."

"It's okay, I forgive you. Don't mention it."

Yuffie looked at the boy and rested her chin on her palm, looking with that seductive look again. "You know," she said as she moved her finger around in circles on the table. "I know I tried to trick you earlier by stealing your wallet, but I wasn't lying when I said that you're really cute."

Kairi's eye began twitching. Did she really say that? Kairi used all her power not to just slap her in the face right then and there. Sora was embarrassed again, rubbing the back of his head and chuckling nervously. "What do I say to that?" he smiled.

Yuffie shrugged, "Say what your heart is saying."

"Well, um...you're not too bad-looking yourself," Sora sputtered out.

"Thank you!" Yuffie cheered, patting his cheek.

Kairi was on the verge of losing it. Had she just become the third wheel? She started coughing loud to get their attention. "AHEM!"

Sora gave her a raised brow, "You okay?"

Kairi looked at him as if he were an idiot, "Just peachy."

Sora leaned back in his chair, "Okay."

And it was like that for the next hour. Sora and Yuffie were talking while Kairi just watched them with gritted teeth. They were always chuckling and giggling every ten seconds. In Kairi's mind, it was disgusting. Finally she grew impatient. "Can we go now?"

"Yeah, it is getting pretty late," Sora agreed. "Haven't even started on the Geometry homework."

The three walked out of Paopu's Pallet. Yuffie yawned and stretched. "Boy, that sure was some good eating!"

"Boy, that sure was some good eating," Kairi mocked under her breath, luckily neither of them heard her.

"Yeah, well um, we have to go now, so how will be able to see each other again?" asked Sora.

Yuffie gave him a comforting smile. "Don't worry!" she said while patting Sora on the back, rather hard. "We'll find each other again! I promise!"

"How can you be so sure?" asked Sora.

"I promised, didn't I?" the raven-haired girl responded. Kairi's mouth dropped. That was _her _line! Yuffie gave Sora a hug. Not a bear hug like earlier, but a regular, genuine hug. "Thank you. I seriously cannot thank you enough. This is the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me."

"It's no big deal, seriously," Sora said, blushing once again. They pulled away and Yuffie skipped off back to where she came from.

"Bye Sor! Bye Kai!"

Sora and Kairi waved back (Kairi a little more annoyingly), and the two began walking back home. Sora felt tension coming from Kairi's direction. "You alright? You've seemed to have been a little out of it ever since we got something to eat."

"I'm fine," she said monotone.

Sora didn't look too convinced, but could tell she wasn't in a good mood right now, so he just shook it off and folded his hands behind his head as they walked back home in silence.

Once they got home, Sora waved at Kairi from his porch as she walked up to her house. "I'll see you tomorrow."

She didn't respond as she slammed her front door shut. That was unexpected. This whole day was just really weird. Sora was the one who had turned into the caring, kind person while Kairi became 'Ms. I don't give a fuck'. They had truly switched roles in their pairing.

Sora decided to hold it off until tomorrow, and he'd ask Kairi what was wrong. Until then, he had to get started on some homework. It shouldn't be too hard, it was only the beginning of the year.

Aerith ran in from the living room and gave Sora a hug. "Hi, baby!"

Sora hugged back, albeit a little confused. He shouldn't have been though, it was his _mom. _She's always like this. "Uh, hey mom. What's up?"

"You're never going to believe it, Sora, I got a job! I'm going to be a secretary at the Hospital over in Tram Cannon."

"Wow, mom, that's great. But what's the point? We're making good money with my job at Paopu's Pallet."

"Yes, that's exactly why I got the job. No child should have to spend their teenage years working. You should be out enjoying yourself without having to take a job into consideration, so I thought I'd take the weight off your shoulders."

"Thanks, mom, I appreciate it." He did appreciate it, his mom was always looking out for him. Problem was, he didn't want to quit his job at the Pallet. It may have been a job, but the love of performing had grew on him. The stage was the only place Sora felt like he could truly be himself. He didn't want that to go away.

Sora walked upstairs and was greeted by Roxas as soon as he made it to the top step.

"Why are you always here whenever I get back home?" asked Sora.

"Where were you at a time like this, young man?" Roxas asked in a stern voice. He was only joking, of course.

"Who are you supposed to be? My keeper? I was out with Kairi and this girl we met along the way. Her name's Yuffie."

Sora started heading into his room, Roxas followed while thinking. The name sounded interesting. "Yuffie, huh? She cute?"

Sora sat on his bed and yawned. "Yeah, she's _really _cute."

"How cute? Like Naminé and Kairi cute?"

Sora raised an eyebrow, "Naminé and Kairi aren't cute, they're hot. There's a difference. Yuffie's a cute girl."

"Oh okay, just not as hot as Kairi or Naminé?"

"No, but she's almost up there with them. Why so interested?"

"Hey, maybe this Yuffie chick could be a backup if things don't work out with me and Nam."

"You say that as if you two are actually together."

Roxas scoffed, "I wish. I just don't know what to say. I don't get it, bro, I'm supposed to be the charismatic and charming twin, you're supposed to be the sidekick, but things have just reversed. You're the charming one, and I'm the dull one."

Sora raised a brow. Was that a compliment? "Uh, thanks...?"

"What I mean is that you and Kairi seem so close, but me and Nam can't even be by ourselves without it being awkward. How'd things get so chill between you and Kai?"

"Well, honestly, Kairi just made it less awkward. She kept following me around even if I didn't talk back."

"So I should just talk to Nam as if it were an everyday situation and eventually things would ease up, right?"

"You want the short answer? Yes. Now can you get out of my room?"

Roxas waved him off as he made his way back to his own room. The rest of the night only consisted of Sora doing his homework, listening to music, and sleeping.

* * *

The next day, Sora did his usual morning routine and ate breakfast, yada yada yada. Soon enough, Kairi came and picked Sora up and they headed off to school. Since it was the morning, Kairi was still a little irritable, but she seemed to be back to her old self. She wasn't mad at Sora anymore. What were the chances they'd ever see Yuffie again anyway?

"So," Sora said as they were on the bus. "What was that all about yesterday, anyway?"

Kairi smiled at him, "You're still on that?"

"You may not realize this, but it kind of sucks to have your friend pissed off at you."

Kairi waved it off, "Don't worry about it, I was on my period."

"Okay, one: gross. And two, you told me you were on your period like two weeks ago, and I don't know much about periods, but I'm pretty sure they last longer than a day."

Busted. Kairi started getting a little nervous, as she couldn't think of anything to cover up her jealousy. What the hell was going on? Had she really turned into Sora? Now _she _had turned into the jealous one who tried to desperately convince otherwise? What was going on? Was it opposite week for everybody?

"Oh, well, er..." she stuttered.

Sora smirked, "Jealous?"

"Jealous? Of who? Yuffie? Please! I have nothing to be jealous of. Why would I ever be jealous over an asshole like you?"

Sora shook his head, "Whatever you say, bitch. Jealous, jealous bitch."

Kairi's eye started twitching, "I am not jealous! What do I have to do to get that through your thick skull?"

"Fine, fine, whatever. You're not jealous," said Sora as he put his hands up in defense.

"Good," Kairi retorted. Sora looked out the window, still smirking. She was _so _jealous.

"By the way, you don't have to be jealous," Kairi's eye twitched again. "I don't like Yuffie that way, so just chill your vagina."

"I said I wasn't-"

"Op, here's our stop," Sora interrupted. Kairi sighed as they walked out and towards the Academy.

* * *

The bell rung and first period ended. Sora and Kairi gathered their things and were about to head out, but someone stopped them. It was Riku, his best-looking smile on his face directed at Kairi.

"Hey, Kairi," he greeted.

"Hi Riku," she smiled back.

"Kairi, I've been meaning to ask you," he started. Riku looked at Sora, telling him to get lost.

Sora took the hint and walked off to second period.

"Anyway, I was wondering, maybe...uh..." Riku rubbed the back of his head.

This was it. The moment of truth. Ever since Sora told her that Riku had feelings for her, she had been expecting this. The bad part was that she didn't think about what her answer would be. To be honest, she didn't want a boyfriend right now, especially with her best guy friend (at least he was until Sora came into the picture). But he was still a childhood friend, and she honestly had no feelings for the boy.

She'll admit he's attractive, but she's just not attracted to him. He's just not her type. But perhaps feelings would grow if she gave Riku a chance. She'd be happy. And even if feelings didn't grow, she could get revenge on Sora for finding out she was jealous, by making _him _jealous. Yeah, now it was his turn.

"I was wondering if you wanted to...er...hang out and see a movie or something with me on Friday."

Kairi was going to go through with this, she just hoped there'd be no regrets later on in the long run. "Sure, that sounds fun."

"Really? Great, that's awesome! I'll call you about it later, you won't regret this!" Riku said as he ran off. She sure hoped so.

* * *

Kairi sat down at the table with Sora at lunch, a smirk on her face. Sora raised a brow.

"What's with you? You look like ass crack," was the first thing Sora said.

"Oh ha ha, that's sooo funny Sora! So clever, too," Kairi spat with sarcasm.

"I try," he sarcastically replied.

"Well, you should know that I've got a date with Riku this Friday."

"Cool, I was wondering when he was gonna ask you out."

That was a disappointing reaction. Kairi thought Sora might start getting pouty or stubbornly say he wasn't jealous, but he took it way better than when she saw Yuffie flirting with Sora. What gives? "That's it?" she asked.

"Um, am I supposed to throw a parade?" said Sora as he sunk his teeth into a sandwich.

"I...I thought you'd be jealous," said Kairi in shock.

"Why would I be jealous? You'll have a boyfriend, big whup. You'll still be my friend, right?" Kairi nodded. "Then that's all that matters."

Kairi actually agreed. Even if her and Sora were to get together with other people, they'd still be friends. They'd still enjoy each other's company, right? That was good enough.

"You're right," Kairi said with a smile. "Darn, then I kinda just agreed to this date for nothing..."

"Really? Only reason you agreed was to make me jealous? Wow, Kai. Hey, I love you as a friend and all, but that's really screwed up to lead him on like that."

Kairi bit her lip, "I know, it's just, I don't want to hurt his feelings."

"It's more hurtful to pretend that you like someone when you really don't, and give them fake hugs, fake kisses, and fake emotions. I'd rather a girl just flat out tell me I'm the most ugly, disgusting human being on the planet and mean it, rather than they tell me I'm some sexy beast and not mean it."

"I guess you're right."

"Of course I am, idiot. I'm always right."

Kairi rolled her eyes, but then an arm draped over her shoulder and sat down. She looked up to see Riku smiling at her. "Oh, uh...hey Riku."

Everybody else started showing up as well. Selphie, Olette, Hayner, Pence, Tidus, and Wakka started sitting down.

"Kairi, omg, we're so so happy for you!" Selphie squealed.

"What for?" asked the auburn-haired beauty.

"What else? For finally hookin' up with Riku, ya?" said Wakka.

"Oh, right..." Kairi said, a little less enthusiastically as Selphie would have expected. Sora was a little nervous. He had never sat with so many people at a table before. He sipped his juice trying to blend in, but it was obvious to everyone sitting at the table that he was freaking out.

Tidus laughed, "Dude, don't be so tense! It's chill, okay?" He slapped him on the back.

"Right, right...it's just I've never got to sit with so many people..." Sora said.

"Well, it'll be happening a lot more often now," Olette smiled.

"Why are you all sitting here anyways?" asked Kairi.

"Duh," Selphie chimed in. "We missed you."

"I didn't," Hayner spat.

Kairi raised a brow, "What I ever do to you?"

Selphie rolled her eyes. "Don't pay him any attention. He's just not in a good mood."

"It's just that time of the month," Tidus joked.

"Knock it off!" yelled Hayner as he tackled Tidus to the ground.

Kairi sweat dropped. She forgot what it was like to sit with these clowns, but she loved them anyway.

"So, Sora," began Olette. "How did you and Kairi become such good friends? You two have been inseparable lately. "

"Well, i-it's not too interesting of a story. Kairi just introduced herself and kept following me around, eventually I-I gave in and we just decided to be friends," Sora explained.

"Yeah, Sora's a really sweet person once you get to know him. Hey! I have an idea! Why don't we all go to Paopu's Pallet this Saturday?"

Everyone looked at her confusingly. "Why?" asked Pence. But Sora knew exactly why. He started do the 'cut it out' signal with his hand, but Kairi ignored him.

"So we can see Sora perform! He's amazing!" Kairi answered.

Sora's head dropped. "Sora, you perform? Perform what? Magic tricks?" asked Wakka.

"Ugh, do I look like a magician to you?" asked Sora.

"He sings," Kairi answered for Sora.

"You sing?" asked Selphie.

"And dances!" Kairi chimed in.

"No, really, it's fine Kairi. It's not like I'm COMPLETELY irritated with you right now," Sora remarked sarcastically.

"Oh, please. You don't scare me, Sora," Kairi giggled.

Riku didn't particularly enjoy the sight of Sora and Kairi. Why did she enjoy Sora so much? What was so special about him? What did Sora have that Riku didn't?

At this point, Kairi was getting uncomfortable with Riku's arm slouched over her shoulders. Then it hit her: She's _dating _Riku. She's practically his girlfriend now...she has a boyfriend! Not that she hasn't had one in the past, but not _Riku. _Then Sora's words began ringing in her head, about leading the poor boy on. There could be serious faults within the grasp of their friendship down the road if she didn't stop this sooner.

"So, what do you say guys? Should we go see Sora look like an idiot Saturday?" Tidus grinned. Just met the guy and is already teasing him, what a trooper.

"Me? An idiot? Not gonna take that from an imbecile. Weren't you the one who accidentally scored the game winning shot for the Lenneard Wizards?" Sora said with a smirk.

Tidus' eyes widen. "Hey man, that was a fluke! What about you Mr. Cool? What kind of sports do you play?"

"Oh my gosh, you guys have to see Sora play basketball! He's SOOO good! Him and his brother are an unstoppable duo," Kairi was just showing off now.

"Is that right? Well, I know they can't beat me and Tidus, ya," Wakka exclaimed.

"Yes, yes they can," Kairi sneered. "Alright, that's it. All of you are coming down to Kingdom Key Street to hang out with us on Friday."

"Fine, whatever. All I know is that me and Wakka are gonna whoop Sora's ass, ain't that right?" Tidus smirked.

"We'll see about that," Sora smirked back. Out of all the newcomers, he was already used to Tidus the most.

"Enough about boring topics like basketball," Selphie pitched in. "Let's talk about something interesting, like my birthday party coming up next week!"

Everybody was pleased to hear about that, except Sora since he had never been to a High School party. Selphie had a reputation for throwing great parties. Selphie dug in her bag and pulled out a bunch of cards with a grin on her face.

She handed them to everyone at the table, except for Sora. Sora wasn't sweating it too much, but he did feel a bit left out.

"What about Sora?" asked Kairi.

"Tch, what about Sora?" Selphie replied.

"He's not invited?"

"Nope," said Selphie. "Why would I invite him? It's not like he's going to make the party interesting." In all honesty, Selphie was just pissed at Sora. She felt that he took her best friend away from her so that he could have her all to himself. Sora gave an odd look.

"What's your problem?" he asked.

"You," she answered coldly.

Kairi got up and dragged Selphie away to a generally secluded area. "Selphie, what's wrong with you? Why are you acting like this?"

"It's his fault..." she said monotone. "Sora took you away, he took my best friend away from me. Why would I be happy with him?"

Kairi put an understanding hand on her shoulder, "He didn't take me away, he's just a friend, Selph." Selphie wasn't convinced. "Look, you have to invite him to the party. I'll get him to perform, you'll love it, I swear," she still wouldn't budge. "Fine, if you don't let Sora go, then I won't go."

That caught the brunette's attention. "What?! Kairi..."

"That's the deal, it's either Sora and me, or neither," Kairi emphasized with a smirk.

Selphie pouted, "Fine, he can come. But I have to see him perform first."

Kairi rolled her eyes, "That's what we're doing Friday, right?"

Selphie gave in, and agreed as they walked back to their table.

"What were you two doing?" asked Olette.

"Nothing," they said in unison.

Kairi was doing all she could to keep the fact that she was going out with Riku in the back of her head, but it wasn't working. He was there, with her, right now. For some reason, he seemed unusually quiet.

Well, reason being: Sora. Riku was jealous of everything he was, is, and has. Why was he getting so much attention? Whatever happened to _him _being the center of attention? He could tell how much Kairi liked Sora, but he never felt that connection with Kairi before, and they had been friends since the age of four years old. She had been friends with Sora for barely a week and they seemed like brother and sister at this point.

He didn't know what it was about this Sora Hikari or what he was about, but one thing was for sure: He had to be destroyed.

* * *

**A/N: i originally wasn't planning on doing this for this chapter, but i just wanted to bring back the characters from the academy since PurgeJuls asked where Selphie and Riku were. **

**Btw, thanks for being the first to review, PurgeJuls. This chap was for you :)**


	7. Truth or Dare

Chapter 7

Another day, another excruciating coating of boredom. Was the school doomed to forever be a sanctum of pure dull activities for adolescence? Today it was Thursday, one of the best days of the school week, simply for being near the end of the school week. Obviously, it was no Friday, but it was a break of fresh air. Sora and Kairi were in their usual bored situation of being stuck in first period of Mr. Newburn.

"And thus, is the conduct of further corpulence theories that have been discovered," he spoke in his monotone voice.

Seriously, how could someone be so...plain? Was someone like him planning on getting married and having kids with that personality? Honestly...

Kairi turned to Sora and made a face that was telling Sora she was bored. He replied with a face of his own, pointing to the inside of his mouth and hacking while pointing at Mr. Newburn. Kairi giggled and nodded in agreement. The bell rang, a huge relief for every soul lingering in the classroom aside from Mr. Newburn himself. If he'd only make things more interesting.

Sora and Kairi walked into the hall.

"So, did you want to hang out after school?" asked Kairi.

"Nah, I think I'm gonna take a nap today. Dunno why, but I'm exhausted."

"Sure, okay. That's actually a great idea! I want you well and rested for your performance tomorrow, 'kay?"

Sora nodded, even though he didn't want to really be reminded of that. "I still can't believe you got all of them to agree to come down there. Aren't you tired of making my life a living hell?"

Kairi tapped Sora on the nose and winked at him, "Nope!" Kairi waved as she walked off to her class. Sora only sighed as he walked off to his own class. Soon an arm draped over his shoulders, and just as Sora thought, it was Riku.

"Hey, buddy," Riku said with an unconvincing smirk on his face.

Sora didn't respond. He could feel the angry aura from Riku swell around him.

"Hey, remember what I said about you getting in the way of me and Kairi's love? Well, you're little crummy performance tomorrow just cancelled my date with Kairi!"

Sora stopped and scowled at Riku, "What love? Call me Mr. Negative if you want, but I see anything but 'love' growing between you and Kairi. And besides, it clearly wasn't my idea, it was Kairi's. I'm in the same boat as you, we both don't want this to happen."

"Then let's stop it. You and me will work together to stop all of this crap from happening. Then I can go out with Kairi."

Sora rolled his eyes. This guy really needed to get this thing called a life. "As much as I'd love hearing about you and your schemes, I can't do that. Kairi's counting on me to make this performance good. I had to call my boss to ask him to let me perform a day earlier. I usually do this on Saturdays, you know."

"You can't do that! I need Kairi to give me her attention, but all she's done for the past week and a half was stomach over you! You have to bail out on this performance for me!"

"Sorry, unlike you, her self-proclaimed _boyfriend, _I actually care about Kairi's feelings. Why don't you think about her for once instead of yourself? What kind of a chump boyfriend are you, anyway? John Trovolta?" The bell rang and Sora face palmed himself. "Great, that's the second time this week you've made me late to Ms. Holland's. Just back off, okay?"

With that, Sora marched off to class. Riku's face looked unmoved, he just stared daggers at Sora. He put his hand on his hip. "What a mess this is...the depiction I had of Sora is long gone. Fine, I see how it is." (Reference alert)

* * *

At lunch, Sora and Kairi were once again joined by the rest of the gang. They had been doing so all week. It seemed that this was going to be a regular thing from now on. Sora was beginning to get used to this, though. He was particularly fond of Tidus and Wakka. He found them hilarious.

Kairi, Selphie, and Olette were like three peas in a pot, always giggling with each other about who knows what. Hayner usually talked to Pence or went to sleep. Today, he was talking to Pence, though.

"Hey," Hayner chimed in. "Anyone know where Riku is?"

Pence looked at Kairi and gave her a smirk, "I bet _you'd _know Mrs. Gallagher." (Gallagher, Riku's last name.)

Kairi shrugged, "Haven't seen him since first bell. And for the record, I don't consider me and Riku an official couple until we officially go out on a date."

"When is that date, exactly?" asked Olette.

Kairi thought about it, but then it hit her. "Oh no! It was supposed to be tomorrow! I completely blew it off so that we could all go see Sora perform..."

"Kairi!" Selphie scolded. "You cancelled your date with the hottest boy at school, for _that?_" she said while pointing at Sora across the table.

"Hey!" Sora said.

Selphie stuck her tongue out at him, "Oh, shut up! Why do you always have to get in the way of things?"

_Jeez, first Riku gets mad at me for absolutely nothing, and Selphie hates me for who knows why. Are Kairi's friends just gonna keep picking fights with me over nothing? _Sora thought.

"Quit being unpleasant, Selph," Kairi pitched in. "I don't get why you insist on getting into fights with Sora, when he hasn't done anything to you."

Oh yes he did, he took Kairi away from her. At least, that's how Selphie saw it.

"Why not pick a fight with Sora?" said Tidus as he stretched Sora's cheeks. "He's got a goofy face that just makes ya wanna torture 'im, doesn't he?"

"Sure does!" Wakka chuckled. "Speaking of which...heads up, Sora!"

But Sora saw this coming a mile away. He ducked in the nick of time, and Wakka ended up smacking Tidus in the face with some pecan pie. Sora then popped back up in front of Wakka and smashed a bowl of ramen noodles in his face. "Ha!"

Everyone in the cafeteria froze, just looking at what just transpired. Hayner was loving this, though. "Oh my god, finally! Something _cool _happens in this stupid school!" Hayner jumped onto the table with two plates of food in both of his hands. "FOOD FIGHT!"

And that's when chaos ensued. Everybody was throwing food at each other. The cafeteria just went from a casual eating area for socialization and association...to a war zone. Nobody was safe, no one was spared, only madness was allowed to be spurred. Kairi had flipped a table down and hid behind it, waiting for the, almost possessed students to calm down. Sora eventually made it to behind the table with her, somehow not even a scratch on him. He had his and her book bags as well.

Sora breathed hard and peered an eye open at Kairi, a smirk on his face. "You okay?"

Kairi looked worried. "I hate food fights...everyone always goes insane...this is all your fault! Why'd you have to help contribute to this, you asshole!"

Sora looked at her like she was from Mars. She did realize that Tidus and Wakka were planning this from the start, right? Oh, whatever. Sora figured she just wanted an excuse to gripe at him about something. Sora gave her a smirk and grabbed her hand. "Come on, you big baby."

Sora led Kairi out of the cafeteria, neither of them getting hit with a single dose of food. The two ran all the way outside of the school to their bus stop. After catching their breath, they stood up.

"You wanna ditch school?" asked Sora. There was only one bell left and after that food fight, chances are they won't go to any class anyway. Might as well give themselves an early dismissal.

Kairi gave Sora a smile. "I was gonna ask you the same thing."

Thus, the two got on the bus and headed back home. The bus driver didn't even care as to why they were on so early, as long as they paid. They sat in silence, but it wasn't awkward. It was a comfortable silence. For starters, Sora truly found out how special Kairi was to him. He never felt a connection like this with anyone before. Those things he said to Riku, he truly meant them. He wanted to protect Kairi from anything, or anyone. She truly was like the sister he never had.

To think that at one point he couldn't stand her. All that was in the past now. Swept under the rug, because if you ever saw Sora and Kairi now, without any knowledge of their back story, you never would have guessed their was a point in time when they weren't together.

They arrived back home and entered their houses, agreeing to meet up at Paopu's Pallet tomorrow, for Sora's expectant performance. He groaned to the thought.

Luckily, Aerith wasn't awake to question why Sora was home a good thirty minutes early, and Roxas wasn't home yet. So he could just drift off to sleep and enter the realm of dreams, right? Wrong. Sora opened his door to see a sight that made him freeze in his tracks.

"You know...your room is pretty dull. But I betcha I can liven it up!" It was Yuffie, in the same outfit from when they first met. She was wandering around Sora's room, looking at all of his stuff.

"Y-Yuffie...?"

"That's my name."

"What are you...how did you..."

Yuffie started looking through Sora's CD case, "I thought I'd just drop by. I've been wanting to see you for a bit. It's been what, about three days since we last saw each other? I got so bored, so I thought I'd just drop by. I hope you don't mind."

"I-I...I don't think I mind. Just would like a little more pre-notification first."

"Sure, sure."

"How'd you find my house? I never told you my address."

"Remember when I slapped you hard on the back when we were leaving the Pallet? I put this tracking chip I made a while ago on your back, and used my tracker to come and find you," Yuffie pointed to the jacket Sora wore that was over on his bed. "Fortunately, you left the same jacket here, or else I woulda ended up at your school."

"Since when were you an inventor?"

"Since I was about five. I don't invent too much, though. Only things I feel will be necessary."

Sora crossed his arms, "Okay, that explains that. Now as to how you got in my room..."

Yuffie chortled, "That's an easy one! Your window, silly!"

"And how'd you get up to my window?"

Yuffie sighed, "Jeez, do ya have to ask so many questions? Simple, I just jumped. I've kinda got these ninja abilities that I self-taught myself as a little kid. The streets are dangerous, you know."

Sora rubbed the back of his head. "Fine, okay. Just call me next time you plan on visiting. Does my mother know you're here?"

"Nope."

"Great. Well, anyway, you mind giving me your number?"

Yuffie folded her arms behind her back. "Don't got a phone, sorry."

Sora's head dropped, "Then what about those pre-notifications?"

"I'll think of something, don't worry so much, Sor!" Yuffie looked at Sora's Michael Jackson poster. "You sure seem to like Michael Jackson a lot."

"And?"

"Just an observation."

Sora sighed, then heard something from downstairs. He walked downstairs to see Roxas entering the front door with a yawn. Sora ran up to him. "Roxas."

"Sora? Shouldn't you just now be getting off school?"

"We had an early dismissal. Come on, there's something I think you should see."

Sora led Roxas to his room, and Roxas was stunned by the assets within. Sora cleared his throat, "This is my friend, Yuffie Kisaragi. Yuffie, this is my brother Roxas."

Roxas was in a trance. Sora said she was cute, but she was even cuter than what Sora described. Yuffie waved at him. "Hiya, Roxie! I hope me and you'll get along."

Roxas didn't hear a word she just said. He was too busy daydreaming about her. Yuffie got confused at his weird staring. "Hey, you've been staring like that for a while, now. You supposed to be some kind of rock?"

Sora snapped in front of Roxas' eyes. "Hey, Roxas. Get a hold of yourself, man!"

Roxas snapped out of it, and looked around as if confused. Sora face palmed himself. If this were an anime, his brother would definitely be the perverted loser best friend. Roxas rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry 'bout that," he apologized as he tugged his brothers sleeve and whispered in his ear, "Dude, where the hell are you finding all of these hot girls?"

Sora pulled his arm away in annoyance for being asked such a dumb question. Yuffie then tackled Sora onto his bed, she being on top of him and looking at Sora with eagerness.

"So, what're we gonna do, huh? Huh?" said the excited girl.

Good question. So, what are they going to do? Here was Yuffie, an energetic fifteen year old who likes to pounce on Sora for some reason. Sora thinks while he tries his hardest not to get a boner from Yuffie's excessive pouncing on top of him.

"Yuffie! Chill, okay?"

Yuffie nods her head rambunctiously as she got off of Sora. Roxas was trying to pull his head together. He couldn't stop staring at her body, he wished he were Sora just then.

Now that Sora had room to think, what were they going to do? Yuffie was here, Roxas was here, Sora was here.

...

...

...

Threesome?

No way! That's gross! Sora had to come up with something else.

* * *

Kairi was exhausted. She went into her room and sat on her chair by her little desk. She noticed her makeup bag wasn't there anymore. She knew well why, too.

_Damn it, Naminé, _thought Kairi. Kairi plopped back on the bed. She didn't even notice her brother walk by with a bag of chips in his hand. He noticed Kairi and walked into her room. "Hey, doofus," he said, making Kairi lift her head. "What's wrong with you? You look like you just fell out of an airplane." Her brother had large red locks as his hair, green eyes, and tear drop markings underneath them.

"Nothing, Axel. Just tired. Why?"

"Because I thought you were gonna hang out with that stupid friend of yours that you're always talking about today."

"He didn't feel like hanging out, which I don't mind. I feel like I could go sleep for a hundred years. Why do you care, anyway?"

"Tch, I don't. It's just that I was gonna have Larxene over today and I didn't want a brat like you disturbing our peace."

"Oh my god," Kairi groaned. "You were gonna fuck Larxene again?! That's like the third time this week!"

Axel chewed on a chip while looking at her like she were an imbecile. "I wasn't _just _gonna fuck her. She told me she was gonna bring over some vodka so that we could get drunk. You want in?"

Kairi shook her head. "You know I don't drink."

"Why are you such a little puss ass? I first started drinking when I was in the ninth grade." He was currently in the eleventh, age 16.

"Well unlike you, I'm not a deluge juvenile jerk."

Axel shrugged, maintaining his smirk. "I just like to have fun. YOLO, baby!" Kairi rolled her eyes. "Anyway, aren't you supposed to have a boyfriend or something? It's Riku, right? Call him, lose your virginity or something. Live a little, for once in your life."

"I don't even like my "boyfriend". I barely even consider him a boyfriend," Uh oh, there she goes again. Axel was getting bored already. "I don't get why people are making such a big deal out of it, I mean, he just asked me out. Just like that, nothing romantic or thoughtful, he didn't even officially admit his feelings. I mean, I just think things are going so fast and-"

"Oh my god, who, the hell, cares?," Axel groaned. He knew if he didn't stop it right there, he'd be there all afternoon. "Just find something to keep you busy, preferably not around the house."

Kairi scowled and threw a pillow at him, "Get out of my room!" Kairi's phone vibrated. She opened it to see what text she got.

_hey kai u think it wold b cool if me and a few friends came over? - Sora_

_sure but who's all coming? - Kairi _

_just me roxas...yuffie - Sora_

_yuffie?! wtf iz she doin there? :( - Kairi_

_u tell me - Sora_

_i dont want that traml in my house - Kairi _

_wat? - Sora_

_i meant tramp - Kairi_

_o - Sora_

_plzzzzz Kai i dont kno wat im supposed to do over here T-T - Sora_

Kairi sighed. The last thing she wanted was to have Yuffie in her house. What Kairi didn't get was why she was jealous in the first place. It wasn't like she had feelings for Sora, did she? No, of course not. But perhaps she was starting to understand what Selphie meant when she felt that Sora was taking Kairi away from Selphie, because now Kairi felt like Yuffie was taking Sora away from Kairi. Did that make any sense? Oh well.

_fine but u owe me - Kairi_

_:D b over there in a min - Sora_

Kairi looked up at Axel, who seemed lost in space while chewing on his potato chips. Didn't she tell him to get out earlier? He never listens.

"Well, it looks like we'll be sharing the house today. I'm having friends over too, and you can't do a thing about it," Kairi smirked. The doorbell rang, most likely Larxene.

"Just stay outta me and Larxene's way," Axel said as he went to answer the door.

Kairi shivered when thinking of all the sins Axel and Larxene were going to commit together. "Ugh, gladly."

Kairi had to do just one more thing before her company came. She marched over to her sister's room and barged in where she found...yep. Naminé was applying makeup, with _Kairi's _makeup. "What do you think you're doing, you hoe!"

Kairi ran up and grabbed her makeup bag. Naminé attempted to pursue Kairi, but she wasn't nearly as strong. Kairi merely lifted her foot while Naminé struggled to get to Kairi. Kairi held the makeup bag high in the air.

"I was just borrowing it!" Naminé cried.

"Yeah, without my permission!" Kairi kicked Naminé back into her chair. "Jeez, you must really like Roxas to actually be putting on makeup."

"Maybe...a little..." Naminé twirled her hair. She always did that when she was slightly embarrassed.

"If you like him so much, why don't you just tell him?"

"I won't tell Roxas how I feel unless you tell Sora how you feel."

"Who said I even liked Sora like that?"

Naminé rolled her eyes. "Oh, _come on_ Kairi, it's so obvious. Why won't you just admit it?"

Before she could answer, the doorbell rang. Multiple times I might add. "We'll finish this conversation later."

The two sisters walked downstairs, and the doorbell was still being rung at a rapid succession.

"Boy, Sora and Roxas must really want to come inside," Naminé observed.

Kairi didn't respond, because she had a bad feeling it wasn't Sora or Roxas ringing that doorbell. Kairi turned the knob of the door only slightly, before the door forcefully opened and smashed Kairi into the wall, her face scrunched. Naminé did her best to keep herself from bursting out in laughter.

Yuffie placed her hands on her hips and looked around the house. "Jeez, where is Kairi?! She takes SOOOO long to answer the door!" Yuffie saw the kitchen around the corner. "Ooh, food!"

Yuffie ran inside the kitchen, where only loud obnoxious noises were heard. Sora and Roxas came in, Naminé just stood there dumbfounded. Roxas couldn't help but think that she looked really good with that makeup on.

"Who...was..." Naminé pointed to kitchen, referring to the energetic raven-haired girl who just barged in.

Sora rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about that. She's got a really bad case of ADD," but Sora still only smiled. "Her name's Yuffie."

"I see," Naminé responded with a giggle. "She seems lively."

Sora looked around the house. It just occurred to him that this was the first time he had ever been in Kairi's house. It was nice. It almost looked like mini-lobby of a mansion, just not as grand, of course.

"Will somebody freaking help me out here?!" yelled a muffled voice.

Roxas pulled the door back to close it, and an uncomfortable-looking Kairi was revealed. She scowled at Sora and stomped up to him. "This is all your fault!"

"Hey, don't mess up this jean jacket! I just got it a few days ago," Sora defended.

Kairi crossed her arms. "Well, you still look like shit with it on."

Before Sora could retort a comeback, they heard weird noises coming from the kitchen. The four of them peered inside to see that Yuffie had just made a large subway sandwich. It had everything, turkey, mustard, mayonnaise, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, pickles, vinegar, you name it. It looked so good yet so disgusting at the same time.

Kairi marched in with her hands on her hips, as if she were Yuffie's mother. "Who said you could just bust in here and eat our food?"

Yuffie looked amused at Kairi's attempt at being threatening. She looked at the remaining three and pointed to Kairi. "Who put the crabs in her panties?"

The three chuckled a little at that remark. Kairi was not amused. "My panties are crab-free, for your information."

Everybody but Kairi busted into laughter after that statement. Kairi blushed a little bit. "Tha-that's not funny!"

Yuffie finished the sandwich in just a couple of bites. She began licking her fingers until she looked as if a light bulb popped up over her head. "Hey, Kai! Where's your room at?" Yuffie sprinted up the stairs so fast that if you blinked, you might have missed her. Kairi began running after her.

"Hey, get back here!"

The rest of them just shrugged and decided to follow. Once they made their way up to Kairi's room, they found the sight of Yuffie scrambling through Kairi's things, with Kairi doing her best to keep up with her and settle down, it looked kind of similar to a Tom and Jerry cartoon. It was a rather amusing sight.

Finally Kairi was able tackle Yuffie on the ground and calm her down. The two of them breathed hard. "That was fun, wasn't it?" asked a cheerful Yuffie.

Fun? Kairi thought that was anything but fun, more like annoying.

"Okay, now that we're all here," said Roxas as he stepped up. "What are we gonna do?"

...

Later on, the five were in Kairi's room just chilling. Roxas and Naminé were scrolling through pictures on Roxas' phone, giggling and chuckling all the while. Kairi was flipping channels on the TV even though the volume was down. Sora and Yuffie were just plain bored. What made it even more awkward were the sounds coming from Axel's room next door.

"UH! UH! UH! OH MY GOD! YES! YES! AXEL YOU BEAST! FUCK ME! FUCK ME SO HARD!"

The five sweat dropped. Yuffie then sat up. "Okay, this is boring. Come on, guys, let's _do _something. Something interesting."

"Like what?" asked Sora.

Yuffie thought about it for a moment before her smile turned malicious. "Truth...or dare!"

Sora smiled maliciously as well, "Sounds interesting."

Roxas and Naminé shared nervous glances, and Kairi didn't really care. She was bored anyway. They all gathered in a circle, and Kairi used an empty water bottle she had lying around in her room to put in the center. Kairi spun first, and it landed on Roxas.

"Alright, truth or dare?"

"Um...truth...I think," Roxas answered a little nervously. Everyone else groaned, even Naminé. They didn't think Roxas would take the coward route.

"What a bitch," Sora commented, earning a scowl from his brother.

"Okay, have you ever...hmm, smoked weed before?"

Roxas sighed a sigh of relief. That was an easy answer. "No, not planning to either." Roxas spun the bottle, and it ended up landing on Sora.

Sora got a little nervous. He had just called Roxas out for picking truth instead of dare, which meant he had to pick dare. "Truth or dare?" asked his brother.

Sora sighed in defeat, "Dare."

The rest of them snickered evilly, especially Yuffie. Roxas thought for a second. "Okay, I dare you to kiss Yuffie."

Sora smirked, all he had to do now was just kiss her on the cheek. Roxas didn't specify whether it would be on the cheek or-

"On the lips," Roxas finished his sentence.

Sora gulped, but Yuffie was all for it. "How fun!" she called out. She puckered her lips out to Sora. Now don't get Sora wrong, if the situation were any different, he would have kissed Yuffie in a heartbeat, hell, he might have made out with her for all he cared. But there was a certain red head who was eyeing Sora with eyes that could kill right now, and he didn't want to arouse problems. But alas, a dare is a dare. Sora started leaning in closer to Yuffie.

Kairi used her elbow to hit her nightstand, and in doing so, a book fell on top of Yuffie and hit her on the head, bringing her out of the moment. "Ow!" she cried. "That was weird."

Kairi put on an act, "Yeah it was wasn't it? Spin the bottle Sora!"

"But we didn't even-" Yuffie tried chiming in.

"Spin the bottle!" Kairi interrupted.

Sora put his hands up defensively and spun the bottle. What a coincidence, it landed on Yuffie. "Okay, Yuffie, truth or dare?"

"DARE!" she said immediately.

Sora rubbed his hands together and chuckling evilly. "I dare you to go in the room next door."

"Done!" Yuffie kipped up and skipped out of Kairi's room. They could hear the voices but muffled through the wall.

"Hey, can I join you guys?" Yuffie said.

"What the-who the hell are you?!" Axel exclaimed.

"What's wrong? Don't you want me to blow you?" Yuffie asked as if this were something normal.

"Axel, who the hell is that?" Larxene asked accusingly.

"Nobody, babe, I've never seen her in my entire life, I swear!" Axel was known for being a playboy, but he wouldn't cheat on Larxene. In fact, he cheated on his old girlfriend _with _Larxene.

"What are you talking about, Axel? Don't you remember how we fucked every few weekends? We've done it everywhere, from the park, to the train, to the-"

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY ROOM!"

Sora, Kairi, Roxas, and Naminé were on the floor laughing their butts off. Even Kairi had to admit, that was pretty impressive. Soon Yuffie came skipping back into Kairi's room with a cheerful smile on her face, and took her seat in between Sora and Kairi again. After a few minutes more of laughter, they finally settled down and caught their breaths.

"Yuffie, that was hilarious," Sora said while giving her a high-five. Yuffie winked at him, proceeding to spin the bottle once more. It landed on Kairi.

"Ah ha! Truth or dare, girl?"

Kairi got a little nervous. She knew if she didn't say dare, she'd have to hear them complain and call her mean names. But if she did say dare, who knew what kind of things Yuffie could be thinking in that whacked brain of hers?

"Um...tr-tr-tru-dare."

"Yes! Okay, hmm..." Just looking at Yuffie think was making Kairi's stomach quell. "I dare you to...grope Naminé's tits!"

It was official, Sora _loved _having Yuffie around. Sora and Yuffie laughed uncontrollably at Yuffie's request. Kairi wasn't eager to do that at all. "No way! That's disgusting, she's my sister!"

Yuffie gave her a 'oh really?' kind of look. "Yeah? Well then, we'll just have to beat the dare outta ya!" Yuffie punched her palm and nodded to Sora, who did the same. Of course they weren't being serious, but Kairi didn't have to know that.

"No! NO! Okay...I'll do it..." Kairi said in defeat.

"Excellent!" Yuffie cheered. "Now go, go! Do it!" Yuffie shoved Kairi closer to Naminé. Kairi and her sister avoided each other's eyes.

"Wait, wait, don't _I _get a say in this?" asked Naminé.

"**NO!**" Sora and Yuffie said in unison. They didn't like it when people chickened out of a dare.

Naminé looked at them in disbelief, and then turned to her blond companion. "Roxas!" she gave him a pleading look. Roxas tried avoiding her gaze and rubbing the back of his head. He had to admit, even he wanted to see some girl on girl action between Kairi and Naminé. He coughed to pretend he wasn't paying attention.

Naminé looked at him like he was mad, and lowered her head in shame. Naminé turned around so that her back faced her sister and Kairi hesitated. Kairi hovered her hands over Naminé's breasts (which were fairly big). Sora and Yuffie stared with wide eyes. The suspense was killing them, Roxas peered his head a little bit to try and see.

And she did it.

Kairi placed her hands on her sisters firm breasts and started groping, massaging, everything. Kairi was extremely uncomfortable at the moment, feeling like she was tormenting not only her sister, but her hands as well. What did those poor little guys ever do to deserve this? Heck, what did _Kairi _ever do to deserve this?

Naminé would have been able to enjoy this, but sadly, it wasn't a guy groping her right now. If it were Sora or Roxas who got this dare, she wouldn't mind as much (preferably Roxas), but seeing as it was her sister, she just wanted to die of shame.

Sora and Yuffie were rolling on the floor with laughter, Roxas just stared as if he were watching porn for the first time.

"Yuffie, how much longer do I have to do this?"

Yuffie stifled her laughter, "Just twenty more seconds!"

"Yuffi-"

"Op op op!" Yuffie interrupted. "Do Sora and I have to pound some sense into you, young lady?"

Kairi sighed in defeat, and continued violating her sister. Axel then bust the door open, wearing nothing but a towel around his manhood. "Kairi! You tell your weird little friend that-" he noticed they were frozen and staring at him. Axel then noticed the position his two little sisters were in. Kairi and Naminé looked as if they were about to lose it. Axel started backing up a little. "Um, never mind." As soon as Axel had closed the door, the five friends heard him bursting into laughter in the hallway, causing Sora and Yuffie to start laughing again.

"YUFFIE!" Kairi cried.

Yuffie wiped away a tear from her eye. "Okay, okay, you can stop."

Kairi reluctantly did as told and ran into the bathroom down the hall to wash off the "evilness" covered on her palms. Sora and Yuffie were still laughing, they just found this whole predicament absolutely hilarious.

Naminé looked at Roxas very accusingly, her arms crossed. Why didn't he even try to put a stop to that? Didn't he care about her? Truth is, Roxas was enjoying every second of it. Roxas looked at her and shrugged as if saying 'what?'. Annoyed, Naminé just punched him in the arm.

Once Kairi came back, they resumed their game. Kairi spun the bottle, and it landed on Roxas again. The rest of them noticed how lucky Naminé had been to not even have gotten picked yet, besides being groped by her sister of course. "Truth or dare, Roxie?" asked Kairi.

"I was gonna go with dare, but after _that_, I think I'm gonna just stick with truth again."

Sora and Yuffie groaned. Kairi gave him an understanding look, after all, after the dare Yuffie just gave her, she was gonna have nightmares for weeks. "Okay, do you have a crush on my sister?"

Roxas gulped. Crap, it seemed like it didn't matter, truth or dare, he was getting fucked over. Roxas looked Naminé, who was avoiding his eyes with a hint of blush in her cheeks. "The truth?" asked Roxas.

"Nothing but the truth!" Yuffie chimed in.

Roxas twiddled his thumbs, "Well...then, yeah. I kinda like her."

Although the blush remained, Naminé sighed of relief mentally. She was afraid he might not say yes. Roxas rubbed the back of his head nervously. He spun the bottle and it landed on Sora. "Truth or dare, bro?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to...aha! Go inside Kairi's underwear drawer!"

"SAY WHAAAA...?!" Sora and Kairi said in unison.

Yuffie rubbed her chin thoughtfully, "Ooh, that's a good one. Why didn't I think of that?"

"Wait wait wait wait wait," Kairi intervened. "Why must I be the victim of all the dares?"

Roxas shrugged, "It's _your _room."

Kairi bowed her head in shame. Sora got up and went to a nearby drawer, he cautiously opened it. He hesitantly peered an eye open, scared to see what the contents were within it. He didn't see everything in the drawer, but he did spot a black bra, which he carefully picked up.

Roxas and Yuffie were laughing at the sight of Sora being so cautious. Naminé didn't really care. Hell, she's borrowed some of Kairi's bras in the past. Kairi didn't dare turn around to see what was going on. She couldn't bare the sight of her best friend fondling her personal property. Yuffie squinted at the bra and took a better look at it. "Wow, Kai, that's a pretty big bra! You must have melons about the same size as Nam."

"Will you shut up?!" Kairi spat. Yuffie only laughed again. Sora placed the bra back into the drawer, and closed it quickly. He sat back down and spun the bottle. It landed on Roxas. "I think you know what I'm gonna ask, Roxie."

"Dare," he answered. "I don't want to be the only one who didn't say dare."

"About fucking time, bro," Sora said.

Sora had to think for a second. He wasn't good at making up dares. He looked at Yuffie. "Yuffie, help me out a little bit."

Yuffie whispered in Sora's ear, and he nodded in agreement. "Of course. That should have been obvious."

From the way Sora agreed, it seemed like the dare wasn't going to be evil or malicious, but the other three were still a little uneasy. It _was _Yuffie's suggestion, after all.

"Roxas, I dare you to kiss Naminé and ask her to be your girlfriend," Sora winked at his brother.

Roxas and Naminé blushed. Roxas couldn't believe this, why was he so nervous around Naminé? He was never like this around any other girl before. What was so special about her? It had to be more than just her dazzling looks. In any case, Roxas wasn't about to refuse this dare for anything in the world right now.

"Naminé..." Roxas started, looking at her blue glistening eyes. "Be my girlfriend?"

Naminé smiled, putting a hand on his cheek, and pressed her lips onto his. Roxas was in heaven. Her lips were so moist and tasted like vanilla.

Sora, Yuffie, and Kairi cheered them on. Although Kairi thought it was kind of abrupt for them to just start going out by a simple dare. Sure, Roxas and Naminé had grown more comfortable with each other over the past week, but jeez. Don't relationships like this take time? Or was Kairi just being dumb?

Aw, who cares? At least they're happy.

Roxas and Naminé decided to go into Naminé's room to get some alone time, leaving just Sora, Yuffie, and Kairi.

"Now what?" asked Sora.

"You don't want to keep playing the game?" asked Kairi.

"Nah, it won't be as fun without everyone here," Yuffie emphasized.

The door bust open again, it was Axel. This time, he was fully dressed. "Kairi, we got a situation! Mom's home!"

"Mom's home?!"

"Yeah, we have to get these people out of here, she'll kill us!"

"But she said she was going to be out 'till eleven!"

"Does that really matter _now_?!"

He was right. They had to get Sora and the others out of the house immediately. Kairi ran out and gestured Sora and Yuffie to follow her. They ran down to Naminé's room where they busted the door open and found Roxas and Naminé in a make out session. Neither of them wanted it to end and stared daggers at the beasts that dare interrupt their moment.

"Jigs up, lovebirds! We gots tah skidatt!" Yuffie chanted out. She didn't seem to be worried about the situation despite the trouble the Lockhart's could get into. In her mind, this was fun.

Roxas and Naminé groaned by the fact they had to stop, but did so anyway. Axel went and got Larxene, who was also fully dressed.

_Thank God, _thought Kairi.

The seven ran downstairs and heard the key to the door begin to work with the door knob. Everyone inside the house gasped, except for Yuffie.

"OH MY GOD! WE'RE DEAD! GAME OVER, MAN! GAME OVER!" Axel curdled into a ball and rocked back and forth. Larxene was suddenly embarrassed that this was her boyfriend.

Kairi slapped Axel right in the face. "Shut up, will you?! She'll hear you!"

The door began to open, and Ms. Tifa Lockhart walked in. "Hey, you guys."

"Hi, mom." Axel, Kairi, and Naminé were standing in front of their mother with their hands behind their backs, looking as innocent as can be.

"What's gotten you three so perked up? I haven't been greeted by all three of you (or any of you) since you were toddlers."

"We just wanted to be nice to you today, mommy," said Axel.

Kairi chuckled nervously, trying to hide the fact that she wanted to strangle Axel right now. Mommy? Really? He realizes how suspicious that sounds, right?

"Well, that was very nice of you three," Tifa said while walking into the kitchen.

Wow, Kairi couldn't believe her mother fell for that. But she was far from complaining. Tifa went inside and opened the fridge, not really looking inside yet. "There was someone there to take my place for after school activity, so I thought I'd just come back home. Man, I'm parched."

A hand from inside the fridge gave her a soda can. "Here ya go!"

Tifa didn't think any of it and accepted the pop, "Oh, thank you."

Kairi, Naminé, and Axel were frozen. Did their mom not notice? Tifa took a sip of the pop. "Damn, this is good."

Guess not. Kairi never realized how clueless her mom was.

"Hey, mother, why don't you head upstairs?" asked Naminé.

"Why?"

"Don't you need to check up on," Naminé paused, trying to think of an answer. "um, that thing."

"What thing?"

"You know, the _thing_."

Tifa thought for a second. "Oh, you're right! I forgot about that!" Tifa ran up the stairs to do...whatever. Kairi was astounded, she always thought her mother was on top of everything. Since when was she so dumb? Did she have a bowl of retard flakes this morning? Whatever, she might as well just get her friends out of here.

Sora and Roxas emerged from one of the cabinets and began stretching, cracking their bones.

"Oh man..." Sora groaned.

Larxene came out from the kitchen closet and flipped her hair back, a smirk on her face.

Yuffie popped out of the fridge with white specs all over her back. She shook them off. "Brrrrrr!"

"Okay, come on, get out of here before I break all of your teeth!" threatened Kairi.

"Wait!" Naminé cried as she ran up to give her new boyfriend one last kiss goodbye. They were kissing as if they lived on two opposite sides of the world.

"Really, guys?!" Kairi complained.

They pulled apart, breathing hard while doing so. "Call me?" Naminé asked.

"Of course," Roxas answered. They were about to kiss again but Kairi walked past them and grabbed onto Roxas' collar while opening the back door.

"That's enough of you, lover boy!" Kairi said as she tossed Roxas out of her house. "Alrighty, everybody out!" she said a little harshly.

Larxene, Yuffie, and Sora walked out rather casually. "Wow, don't be such a bitch on our exit next time, Kai," Sora said as he left.

Kairi grabbed Sora by the collar and pulled him back in the house, scowling at him. "What'd you say, asshole?"

"Hey, guys! Get up here!" Tifa called from upstairs.

Kairi gave Sora one last squint as she pushed him back out, slamming the door. The three went upstairs into Tifa's room to see what was up with their mother.

"What's wrong, mom?" Axel asked.

"Look at this table! It looks a million times better! Did you guys want to surprise me with this or something?"

They looked at the table. It was originally a dull shade of brown, but now it had turned into a solid pink color, and was a lot more eye catching. Kairi and Naminé giggled, they knew that Yuffie probably did it. When, where, and how? Who knows, with Yuffie. But they were definitely thankful.

"Thanks you guys, I really appreciate it."

"Sure thing, ma! I told these two little slackers," Axel ruffled his little sisters hair with a fake smile showcased on his face. "that we should do something for you since you've been working so dreadfully hard at work this past week." Naminé and Kairi growled at their liar of a big brother.

Tifa smirked, "Is that so? Well, I'm glad." Tifa didn't buy any of this for a second. In fact, she just saw four teenagers jump over a fence out of her window a few moments ago, so she knew something was up. But she decided to let it go and allowed the three to have this one. She hugged all three of her kids, "I love you guys, so much."

Kairi was a little taken back, her mother didn't just hug them randomly like that very often, but she didn't mind. She hugged her mother back anyway.

* * *

Sora, Yuffie, and Roxas made it to the Hikari front porch. Larxene went on home, not really wanting to associate herself with Axel's little sisters annoying friends.

"I guess I'd better head back, too," Yuffie said with a cheerful smile.

"Okay. Tomorrow's Friday, so you wanna hang out with us tomorrow? We're all gonna be at the Pallet," Sora suggested.

"Sure, sounds like fun!" Yuffie began skipping off. "Later!"

Sora and Roxas waved back. They sighed and entered their house, Aerith no where to be seen. Roxas sighed again, this time, with passion. "Sora, you ever been in love before?"

"I don't know," Sora said, not really interested in where Roxas was going with this.

"Sora, I think I'm in love with Naminé."

"Dude, you've only known her for about a week."

"That's long enough to realize true feelings."

Sora rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. I'm gonna head to sleep, if you don't mind."

Roxas wasn't even listening. Sora went upstairs, into his room and locked himself into his room. He slid his back on the door, breathing heavily. After taking in and thinking about everything that happened today, he couldn't help but smile.

"That was fun."


	8. The Paopu Bunch

Chapter 8

Sora was facing the window. The sun shined radiantly in his room. He looked up at his calender, and remembered it was September 18th, the day of his performance. He groaned at the mere thought. Half of the people coming tonight were popular at his school, and if he messed up, Selphie or Riku would most likely not hesitate at all to tell the whole school that he sucked.

Sora already knew what performance he wanted to do, but he didn't have enough dancers to do it. Perhaps he'd just have to go at it solo. It may be a bit more boring, but it's all he can afford at the moment. Sora yawned and turned to his other side, and his eyes grew wide as soon as he did. There was someone else laying in his bed next to him. She looked beautiful up close, and her eyes were shut as she blissfully slept. It took Sora a moment to remember who she even was.

"Yuffie?!" Sora staggered back and ended up falling on the other side of his bed. Yuffie began fluttering her eyes open. She looked around and noticed a brunet no where in sight.

"Sora...?" she asked.

Sora stood up, backing up against the wall. "How'd you get in my room?"

"Same way I did yesterday. Window," Yuffie said. She looked down and giggled, "Nice boxers."

Sora realized that he was only wearing a T-Shirt and boxers, but couldn't care less right now. "Wha...why are you here?"

"The place I sleep at stinks. Literally and figuratively. I hate it there, so I thought I'd just kick it back with you. Do you mind?"

Yes, yes he did. Well, he didn't mind that much, but if his mom were to barge in here with a girl in his bed, he'd have to ask Yuffie to attend his funeral.

Yuffie yawned, allowing the covers to reveal her body. She had on nothing put a bra and panties. She acted as if this were normal, as if nothing were wrong about any of this. Sora found himself staring, but quickly looked away, shutting his eyes.

_Control yourself, Sora...control yourself...control..._

"Is there a problem?" asked Yuffie. Her voice sounded kind of louder.

Sora opened his eyes to see Yuffie's cute face only a few centimeters away from his, looking slightly concerned. Sora was about to lose it, he scuffled over to the other side of the bed before Yuffie tempted him to do something he'd surely regret. Sora looked at his alarm clock, it read 7:23 AM. Wow, what a coincidence. You know, if he wanted to, he could get in a quickie with her real quick, he had a little bit of time...

Wait, what the fuck was he thinking?!

"Y-Yuffie, p-p-put some cl-cl-cl-clothes on before w-we end up doing something we'll regret later on," Sora stuttered. No matter how bad he wanted to, he had to resist temptation at all cost, not to mention the fact that Kairi would have his head for her dinner if he did.

Yuffie checked herself out. "What? This? I sleep like this all the time." Yuffie then gave him that seductive smile of hers. "Oh, come on, don't even try to convince me you don't like what you see."

"This isn't funny, stop it!"

Yuffie smirked as she got up on the bed, crawling towards the nearly vulnerable Sora, more vulnerable than he ever wanted to be. She pressed her chest onto his. "Come on, Sor, don't you wanna do something _bad _for once in your life?"

Sora gulped.

"Remember how good Axel and Larxene felt yesterday? Don't you wanna feel that good? Don't you wanna make _me _feel that good?"

Sora couldn't contemplate whether he thought this was the best, or worst day of his life. Yuffie's lips were getting closer and closer to Sora's quivering ones. "All it takes is just one...moment...at a time."

And with that, Sora's door busted wide open. "Come on, Sora! We have to get to school early for the assembly, remember?"

Sora gulped again, he knew that voice. It wasn't his mother, and it definitely wasn't Roxas. It could only be...

_Kairi! _Sora thought.

Kairi noticed the position Sora and Yuffie were in and froze, part of Sora was thankful for her being her. She was his savior at the moment, the other part of him was scared for his life. Yuffie didn't seem too affected by any of this. "Hiya, Kai!"

Sora gave Kairi a nervous smile, "Yeah...hiya...Kai..."

Kairi's eye's were twitching as her mouth was ajar. "Sora...you...

**"PERVERT!"**

Sora _had _to be living in some kind of bad anime.

* * *

After Sora and Kairi made sure Yuffie went home, the two walked off to school. Kairi was giving Sora the cold shoulder. Sora explained his situation and said that he had no idea about Yuffie until he woke up this morning, and that he wasn't going to do a thing with her. He was being completely honest.

Kairi was still a little resentful. She believed him, but it was just the fact he was still allowing Yuffie to do whatever she wanted around him.

Kairi didn't even talk to Sora again for the first three periods. At lunch, she sat down with him started eating her lunch without a word. Sora looked at her confusingly. Was she still mad? "Am I still getting silent treatment or what?"

No response.

"If you don't start talking to me, I'll tell the whole school that you groped your sister," Sora said.

Kairi giggled, but then frowned, not really needing to be reminded of that. Nonetheless she gave Sora a smile. "Okay, okay. You're forgiven."

Sora gave her a triumphant smile. Soon, the rest of the gang joined them. Sora thought it was weird how they all just always end up sitting down at the same time, but he didn't question it.

"What's up, loser?" Tidus grinned, patting Sora on the back.

"Nothing, dick face," Sora teased back. Although Sora enjoyed Tidus and Wakka's company, he sure did wish Yuffie attended school with them. School would be so much more interesting with her around. Oh well, at least Kairi was here.

"Yo, man!" Wakka snapped his fingers in front of Sora's face. "What's up with you, Sora? You seemed like you just went into outer space for a sec."

"Sorry," Sora rubbed the back of his head. "just got a lot on my mind."

Riku was back, too. He sat down next to Kairi. "What's up, baby?"

Kairi was really uncomfortable with hearing Riku call her that. She was still trying to deny that her and Riku were an official couple. "Hi," Kairi nervously said back.

Sora found himself staring at Riku and Kairi, feeling oddly jealous. Lately any time he ever saw Riku near Kairi, he just felt super jealous for some reason. But he wasn't going to say anything.

"So, Sora," Tidus said, pulling Sora out of his thoughts. "You ready to look like an idiot on the court after school today?"

"Think whatever you want," Sora said with a smirk.

"I'm actually looking forward to seeing you perform tonight," Olette said with a smile. "I wanna see how cool your moves are."

Kairi bit her lip thinking about how sexy Sora was on stage last time.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Sora said while leaning on his palm. "I need some backup dancers, but I don't know anyone who can seriously dance..."

"I can get you some people," Riku chimed in. "You can teach them any dance in a good thirty minutes, they're really good."

Sora raised a brow, "Okay...thanks...I think." Riku sure was being oddly friendly today.

"Sure, I'll introduce you to them later on."

The loudspeaker turned on and everyone paid attention to the Vice-Principal speaking into it. "The following students, please report to the Vice-Principal's office. Tidus Fleming, Wakka Bradley Baker, Hayner Cowden, Selphie Tilmitt, Kairi Lockhart, and Sora Hikari."

The ones who were called gave each other confused looks. Just about everybody was called down except for Riku, Olette, and Pence. While walking down to the office, they were trying to contemplate why they would have been called down. They reached the office and all walked in to be met with the Vice-Principal, Mr. Pete Cummings. He was a heavy set man with thin glasses on. (Yes, he's the Pete from the Disney Universe)

He scowled at the six students.

"All right, you little pipsqueaks," Mr. Cummings began. The students were a little taken back. That didn't seem like the way someone of authority should address his students. "I bet you's all wanna know why you're here, eh? It's not that complicated, honestly, it's just that you little creeps helped wreck my cafeteria!"

"You mean the food fight? Oh yeah, that was awesome!" Tidus exclaimed.

Sora put a hand to his mouth, "Not now, Tidus."

"Awesome, you say? Well, I wonder...was it awesome enough for you six to be attending detention this afternoon?"

They all gasped at that, except for Hayner. "Detention? Why?!" asked Selphie, who had never had detention before.

"Yeah, the entire cafeteria was into it, too," Sora defended.

"Witnesses say it was your table who started it," Mr Cummings explained.

"Then how come Olette and Pence ain't have to tag along, ya?" Wakka asked.

"Do you really expect me to believe Mister Marquette and Miss DiCicco had helped contribute to this?"

"Well me and Kairi didn't contribute!" Selphie chimed in. "It was _them_!" she said while pointing accusingly at the four boys.

"Yeah, you don't understand Mr. Cummings," Kairi explained. "I can't get detention, I-I need to-"

"I'M IN CHARGE YOU LITTLE RUNT! NOW DETENTION, ALL OF YAS! BE AT THE LIBRARY RIGHT AFTER SCHOOL!"

Kairi's lip quivered at the principal, but they accepted their punishment and walked out. Hayner, however, was used to getting detention. He regularly got detention every few weeks last year. So he didn't really mind much.

"Hayner, you know the drill right?" Mr. Cummings asked.

"Sure, sure. See ya after school, Pete," Hayner said as he caught up with the rest of his friends.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME BY MY FIRST NAME!"

* * *

At the end of the day, the six detention students decided to wait outside by the front of the school until their detention started. They had all already called their parents and told them the situation. Sora, Tidus, Wakka, and Hayner had gotten over it by now, but Kairi and Selphie were still in denial.

"This can't be happening," Kairi said as she hugged herself. "I can't believe I'm gonna be stuck at school for a whole two extra hours! I'm gonna _die _out here, I swear!"

Sora folded his hands behind the back of his head with a casual look on his face. "Get over yourself."

Kairi scowled at him as Tidus and Wakka chuckled.

"I don't see what's so funny, Tidus and Wakka," Selphie said looking at the two. "You two are some of my closest friends and all, but seriously, this is all your fault!"

"Chill out. Jeez, you chicks are acting like we got expelled or something," Tidus said.

"Honestly, I don't see what the big deal is. It's really not as bad as it seems," Hayner said, his hands in his pockets. "Trust me, you'll get over it," Hayner said trying to ease Kairi and Selphie. "The thing that sucks about dating Olette though, is that she _never _gets in trouble, so I never end up getting detention with her. That sucks."

"Gee, maybe because, unlike you, she's got a _brain_!" Selphie spat.

"Yeah, and unlike you and Olette, I've got _balls._ Figuratively and literally."

"Ugh, you're so disgusting!"

"Guys, where's the peace, man?" Wakka said, breaking up the bicker. "Take my hands if we be friends!"

Everyone looked at Wakka confusingly, since what he said sounded really out of character.

"What?" he asked while getting uneasy from the stares.

"This sucks," Kairi said, getting back on topic. "Now what will we do? We were all gonna head over to Paopu's Pallet today, remember?"

"We can do that tomorrow, can't we?" asked Tidus.

"I guess..." Kairi sounded melancholic.

"Why are you so bent on that?" asked Selphie.

"You'll understand when we go there," Kairi answered.

Sora checked his phone. "I guess we'd better get up to the library."

The rest of them agreed and they headed up to their dreadful detention. Selphie and Hayner couldn't stop arguing the whole way through. Selphie blamed him for a large portion of why they were here in the first place. She blamed all four of the boys really, but she just felt like picking a fight with Hayner because...who knows?

Kairi, Selphie, and Sora had never been in detention before, so this was going to be a new experience for them.

They entered the library, with Mr. Cummings waiting right there for them, his arms crossed. "Take your seats," he ordered.

They did as told. There were a set of tables all set out with four tables on each side, and their names were placed where they were supposed to sit. Sora and Kairi sat at the table in the front over by the left. Selphie sat in the second row on the right side. Hayner sat in the table behind Sora and Kairi, kicking his feet on the table. He was used to this. Tidus and Wakka sat at the table next to Hayner.

"All right you future little criminals," Pete said, scowling at his inferiors. "you're all here today because you little devils don't know nothin' about self-control. So yous gonna sit here, and ya gon like it, too!"

"Yeah guys, you better behave yourselves, or else Pete here'll give you guys a timeout," Hayner said with obvious sarcasm.

"Get yer feet off the table, Hayner! I don't need that mouth of yers today."

Hayner put his feet down and clasped his hands together on the table as if he were some good student. "My apologies sir, I was just trying to keep my fellow peers here in line," his voice oozed with sarcasm.

"Alright you little runts, we're gonna do somethin' a little different this time." Pete grabbed some papers over by a podium he was near and passed it out to all of the students. "You're all gonna write a thousand word essay on why you guys are a bunch a little punks."

"That's the stupidest essay topic I've ever heard," Sora commented.

"NOBODY ASKED YOUR OPINION!" yelled Pete. Trails of his spit smacked Sora right in the face, which Sora annoyingly wiped off. "All right, if I hear any noise in here, I'm coming right back in here, and trust me, you don't want that, no no! So I suggest, you'd keep your mouths shut, zipped, and locked.

Hayner mockingly saluted. "Aye-aye, sir!"

Pete pointed at him and did the 'I'm watching you' sign. As soon as he left, awkward silence fell. Hayner looked at the rest of his peers, and realized, that although he sat with them at lunch, he wasn't close to any of them. He barely considered anyone in the room a friend. He didn't know Sora too well, he didn't know Kairi that well either, Selphie was a bitch in his opinion, and Tidus and Wakka were annoying. The only ones he liked were Olette and Pence, and chances of them getting into detention were slim. Olette was a straight A student, so no way was she going to be in here, and Pence was a A/B average student.

Hayner started obnoxiously humming the chorus to _Paint It Black_ by the Rolling Stones. He started pretending to strum an invisible guitar. Everyone in the room looked at him as if he were an idiot.

"Hey, retard, cut it out!" Selphie spat him.

Hayner snarled at her. He took the paper he was supposed to write his essay on and crumpled it up, tossing it at the back of Selphie's head. Selphie turned around looking annoyed. "Hayner!"

Hayner had already put his head down to make it seem like he hadn't done anything. Selphie saw right through him but decided to just roll her eyes and let it go. She went back to staring at her blank sheet of paper.

Hayner flipped his head back up and looked around, the awkward silence had resumed. The blond sighed, these guys were so hopeless. He kicked his feet back on the table. "So, any of you fuck heads gonna be of some entertainment for me, or am I gonna hafta make it myself?" Everyone ignored him. "Fine."

Hayner takes out his iPod and plays an instrumental to some rock song really loud, Hayner stands up and puts his foot on one of the tables and begins strumming his air guitar again. Everyone else cups their ears.

"Cut that off, ya!" Wakka cried.

"Yeah, seriously Hayner, could you be anymore annoying?" Kairi commented.

The door opened and Mr. Cummings walked in. Once he made it to made it to the tables, the music had stopped and Hayner sitting in-between Sora and Kairi with a look on his face that showed he was 'concerned'.

"What's got your chippers in a dip, Mr. Cummings?" Hayner sarcastically asked, acting as if he were some innocent good student.

"What was that? That music?"

"Music? I don't know what you're talking about, sir. Did any of you guys hear any music?"

The rest of them nodded or said a simple "no", none of them really wanting to get in the middle of anything.

"You ain't foolin' me Hayner, I know how you are..."

"That wasn't my intention, sir. Now would you mind? We are trying to enjoy the artistry of essay writing, that of which you sir have bestowed on us, correct?"

Pete gave up and left the room, but kept a threatening eye on Hayner.

"OMG, guys, I was so scared," Hayner said in a high-pitched voice. He then took a good look at Kairi, who was getting a little creeped out by his glaring.

"What's your problem?" Kairi asked.

"You're lookin' mighty fine there, princess. You're getting sexier every year..." He meant it too. Sora was starting to pay attention. "Yo, Wakka Flocka! How 'bout you keep a lookout for fat ass while the rest of us get little Kai Kai impregnated, huh?"

"Hey!" Sora was tired of this. Nobody hits on _his _girl! Wait, no! His friend, right? Yeah! "Quit being a perv, Hayner!"

"Yeah, seriously, why are you being a bastard?" Kairi insulted.

"Oh, sweetheart, didn't you know?" Hayner got a little closer to Kairi, smelling her fragrance. "It's my middle name."

Hayner got up from his chair and sat on table behind him.

"What's wrong with you, Hayner? Aren't you supposed to be dating Olette?" Tidus asked.

"Zip it, He-Man, I was talking," Hayner didn't even glance at Tidus. Tidus growled and was about to get up, but Wakka put a hand on Tidus' shoulder to reassure him to calm down. Hayner resumed eyeing Sora and Kairi. "So, what's with you two? Are you guys like boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Sora and Kairi blushed.

"You guys riding the horseback? Gettin' frizzy? Ooh, I know the perfect name for ya, how does SoKai sound? Or maybe KaiSor? Or my personal favorite, the ass wipes!"

"Shut up, Hayner. Leave Sora and Kairi alone," Tidus said defending his friends.

"Bite me," Hayner responded.

"Say one more thing and I swear to-"

"Guys!" Selphie interrupted. "You know good and well he's only doing this for you guys to react, now will you just shut up? Ignore him."

"Oh, please, Selph. You haven't been able to ignore me since forever," Hayner said.

"It's because you're a no-good slacker and an idiot who can't thi-"

"See? There it is. You can't ignore me for one second," Hayner smirked. Selphie was going to say something else but realized he was right, so she just kept her mouth shut.

"Hayner, you're being a dipshit, okay? Who are you to judge anyone else in this room? All you do with your life is smoke dope, drink alcohol, and play video games," Tidus insulted.

"Hey, that's not true," Hayner pretended to act like he cared. "I quit smoking dope."

Tidus rolled his eyes. "You're pathetic, you know that?" Selphie chimed in.

"Oh, I'm so offended...why don't you tell me I'm the biggest excuse for human existence while you're at it. Better yet, tell me something that I should give a flipping flying one-of-a-kind shit about."

"You're just a coward, afraid to go off into new boundaries..." Tidus said, turning his head, trying to pry out of the conversation.

"Oh, but that's where you're wrong! I wanna be just-like-you! I always figured the best thing I could do was go underwater and kick a bunch of balls around."

"You couldn't play blitzball even if you tried!"

"Oh, tch, wow! I'm so hurt!"

"Knock it off, guys. Can we please just finish the essay?" Sora suggested.

"You're really gonna do the essay?" asked Kairi with a smirk.

"No, just need an excuse for everyone to be quiet," Sora said, laying his head back down.

Hayner walked past Sora and whacked him on the back of his head. "Good luck with that, squirt."

Sora, getting a little angry, stood up with clenched fists. "Hey, watch it!"

Hayner ignored him and started going through some things on the tables in front of him. Just randomly examining books, pencils, anything up there.

"You're such a slob..." Selphie said in disgust.

"Shut up, Selphie, please. You act like you're _so _perfect, don't you?"

"Tch, I'm _better _than you," she scoffed, flipping her hair.

"See, there's where you're wrong. Nobody's better than anybody, you're just so full of yourself, that's why I hate associating myself with you."

"No, it's because you're a jerk! You're just a big lug who tugs around in the school for what reason? Who knows? I don't know why Olette is even bothering with you! She could do _way_ better."

Hayner started tearing pages out of a random book. "Oh, so you think Olette is just as pristine and perfect like yourself, Selph? Is that what you thought?"

"Not exactly how I would have worded it but yeah," She answered. Selphie crossed her arms.

Hayner chuckled to himself, "Well, I'd think you'd like to know this about her," Hayner looked at everyone else in the room. He noticed that Wakka was asleep. "So, who's all lost their virginity?"

Everyone looked at each other blankly, trying to see if anyone would raise their hands. "Anybody? Anybody got to shake the snake? Plump the plunger? Excite the eel? Choke the chubby? Whack-out the woody?"

Kairi just gagged in disgust, and Sora chuckled at her reaction.

"Why? It's not like _you _have," Tidus accused.

"Oh, but I have. And guess what? It was with little miss perfect, Olette herself."

"That's a lie!" Selphie exclaimed. "Olette would never condone herself to making love to such a filthy, lazy little rat like you!"

"You're just jealous," Hayner smirked.

"Of who? _YOU_?" Selphie felt like she could literally throw up. "Don't make me laugh, vomit, and cry at the same time please."

"No, you're jealous by the fact that me and Olette did it. You're mad because you're a virgin."

"Why would I be upset about something like that? Honestly, I'm not interested in giving my body to anyone."

"Be honest," Hayner simply requested. "Haven't you ever wanted to know what it's like?"

Sora was getting a little interested, seeing as to how he was pretty close to losing his own virginity just this morning. "What's it like?"

Hayner shrugged, "It sorta depends. You gotta have the right partner, the same amount of lust, passion, desire, you know what I'm saying?"

"Oh, what in thee hell do you know about passion?" Selphie spat.

"I know tons. Wanna come over some time to find out?" Hayner asked while licking his lips.

"Please..." Selphie said while turning her head. In actuality, however, she wouldn't _mind _having sex to be perfectly honest. She was a little interested in how it felt, but she would never admit that.

"So, Selph, you still think Olette is just like you? No, she's not perfect. But that's okay, because we're human. Girls like you are just used to having their heads so thick in the clouds that you wouldn't stand a chance in reality."

Selphie rolled her eyes.

"So how was it with Olette?" asked Kairi.

Hayner leaned back on the podium behind him, with a smirk on his face, his eyes closed, and his hands in his pockets. "Amazing..." he answered. "You'd be surprised at how crazy Olette can get when she's turned on."

Sora was getting intrigued by this even more and more. "So, how'd it feel?"

"Picture this, you and your partner, your body hot...sweat trickling down your forehead as you're forcefully thrusting in-and-out...moans and grunts, you feeling all over each other's bodies, grinding...it just seems like everything is wet, but you don't care, you wanna drench the bed with your love juices..."

Selphie was starting to pay attention again. Everyone started looking at Hayner intensely.

"So much rolling, and kissing, your mind is on fire...the kissing is so wet and intoxicating. I remember at one point I was grinding so hard into her, she had her nails dug into my back...the pain felt pretty good, especially when you're in the moment...I remember her screaming my name and repeatedly screaming for me to do her. It was so intense...heavy breathing while you make out, you find things that would usually be disgusting, not so disgusting anymore, you just want be the nastiest you can be. Then you finally hit that climax, where everything you worked for just sort of comes out with the feeling of relief and your body becomes hot with a feeling of ecstasy."

Tidus was practically drooling by the end of Hayner's story. Sora was trying to cover his area to make sure no one saw his boner, and Selphie was trying to act like she still wasn't interested. Even Kairi got turned on after that.

"I-I still don't think it's as good as you make it sound," Selphie stubbornly put in.

Hayner rolled his eyes. "You're just scared to do it, aren't you?"

Selphie scoffed, "Never! I'd do it right here and now if I wanted to!"

Hayner got a little closer to Selphie, "Is that a proposition?" he sneered.

Selphie sweated a little nervously before snapping out of it. She pushed Hayner back, "Get away from me, you creep!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to give you an imitation of Selphie's life," Hayner put on a cheesy smile with wide-eyes that everyone but Selphie snicker at. "OMG, Kairi! Olette! I just found the _cutest _dress at the mall that I'm probably going to wear like one time and then throw it in my closet forever! Ohmigosh, isn't that boy over there the _hottest_? OMG double FFL, Riku is SO sexy!"

Sora and Kairi were laughing at Hayner's ridiculing of Selphie. Even Tidus was laughing even though he didn't want to really show it. Selphie flipped Hayner off. "Oh, fuck you, Hayner!"

"Ooh, feisty! I like that in a woman," Hayner smirked.

"Well, what about you, smart ass? How's your life like? Like at home or something?" Tidus asked.

Hayner's smirk fell to a frown. "My home life? It's real simple...allow me to introduce you guys to my father." Hayner put on a gruff and angry-looking face. "Sit down, bitch! You move again I'll beat the shit outta you! Don't make me wake this baby (Hayner has a little sister), she don't need to see what about to do! Quit crying, bitch! Why must you make me shout at you?! How could you?! Just leave me and love him out the blue? Oh, what's the matter, Jenny, am I too loud for you?!" Hayner then turns into his mother. "Baby, please, why are you doing this?!" Back to his father. "Shut the fuck up!" Hayner then turns into himself. "Dad, stop it! You're gonna end up killing mom!" Hayner switches. "You think I give a fuck?! You can't run from me, Jenny! It's just us and our pathetic excuse for a son! Nobody else! You're only making this harder on yourself!" Hayner goes back to being himself. "Dad, stop it right now!" Back to his dad, where he pretends to back slap somebody. "Don't touch me! Don't fucking touch me! Jenny, you were supposed to love me! NOW BLEED BITCH BLEED! BLEED BITCH BLEED! BLLEEEEEEEEEEEDDD!"

_(A/N: Yes, that is a reference to Kim by Eminem. I just thought it would fit good for that moment)_

Everybody was looking at Hayner, a little frightened. They couldn't believe it was true, even Selphie sorry for him.

"Are you serious?" asked Sora.

Hayner turned back to normal and looked at him casually. "Do I look like I'm lying?"

Tidus wasn't buying it as he crossed his arms. "What a bunch of bs! There's no way you could come from a home _that _bad! You're just trying to make us feel sorry for you."

"You don't believe me?" Hayner almost looked hurt. Tidus shook is head. Hayner scowled at him as he walked up to him closer and closer. He rolled up his sleeve to reveal some very severe-looking scars on his arms, that look like they could have came from a sharp whip. Tidus suddenly felt extremely guilty. "Do you believe me now? Huh? See, _this _is what you get in my house, when you forget to put the toilet seat down."

Tidus tried avoiding Hayner's cold eyes as much as he could. Hayner began backing up. "See I don't think, I need to sit with you _fucking _dildos anymore." (My fav line from that movie XD)

Hayner walks over to a table and angrily yells as he throws all of the books and papers off of it onto the floor. He gets on top of the table and reaches for the rail above him. He climbs up and slams his feet on the second floor balcony and sits down, trying to calm himself. Sora, Kairi, and Selphie looked at Tidus accusingly.

"What? I didn't know!" Tidus defended.

"You idiot, why did you say that?" Kairi accused.

"Not cool, bro," Sora chimed in.

Selphie got up and started walking over to Hayner. "I'm gonna go say something..." Kairi walked up to Tidus and slapped him in the arm. Selphie walked up to the second floor where Hayner was and took a seat next to him. Hayner had his face buried in his arms, but he still knew it was Selphie sitting next to him. He smelt her perfume.

Selphie rested a hand on his shoulder, "Hey...you okay?" Hayner didn't budge. Selphie put her hand back in her lap. "I'm sorry for...for all of those things I said to you the past year. I never knew..."

Hayner lifted his head up. Selphie expected him to be crying or something, but his face was dry and his eyes were white. He just looked hurt. "It's okay..."

_Last year, freshmen year, first day of school. _

_Kairi, Naminé, and Selphie walked on campus to see Olette waving at them. They all knew Olette from Middle School, and were glad to see her at this school. Kairi, Naminé, and Selphie walked up to Olette and gave her welcoming hugs. They also noticed a boy standing behind Olette, he looked rather grumpy and wasn't talking to anybody. Next to him was a chubby boy who looked much friendlier. _

_"How was your summer, guys?" asked Olette. _

_"It was tons of fun," Selphie answered with a bright smile. "I wish you could have been there with us! We went to so many different malls!" _

_Olette rolled her eyes, "Selph, you know I don't like shopping that much." _

_Kairi looked at the two boys behind her, "So, Olette, who are these two behind you?" _

_"Oh," Olette pointed to the chubby one. "These are my friends. They live near me and we always hangout in the alleyway above the sandlot. This is Pence, he's really good at computers and stuff."_

_"Hi, there," Pence greeted cheerfully. Selphie waved back._

_Olette pointed to the grump, "And this is Hayner. Arguably my best friend." She then whispered in Kairi's ear, "I know he seems really grumpy but once he warms up to you, he's actually not that bad of a guy." _

_Kairi rubbed her chin thoughtfully, "I see..." _

_Selphie walked up to Hayner and eyed him up and down. _

_"Is there a problem?" Hayner asked in a monotone voice. _

_"What's with that outfit? You look like you popped out of a movie from the eighties. Your hair needs brushing, your clothes look like they haven't been ironed, and quite frankly you smell really bad," Selphie was so judgmental. _

_"Wha-who the hell are you to tell me what's so bad about me? Nobody asked you!" _

_"Exactly! If you didn't ask me, who knows what kind of a train wreck you might have been." _

_Kairi and Naminé sweat dropped. Oh, Selphie, getting into an argument on the first day of school. Riku walked up behind Kairi with a confused look. "Where's the fire?" _

_"Hey, Riku," Kairi greeted. _

_"What do you take me for?" asked Hayner to Selphie. _

_"A slacker, judging by those clothes. Seriously, when did you get those shoes? Six years ago?" _

_The bystander students, aside from Kairi, Olette, and Pence, all laughed at Hayner's clothes. His clothes did look kind of cheap. Kairi ran up to Selphie and grabbed her by the shoulder, "Selphie, that's enough!" _

_"Calm down, Kai. I was just having a little fun with the boy," Selphie excused. _

_"YOU'RE A BITCH!" Hayner yelled at Selphie. Everyone ceased their laughter as Hayner began running off. Olette ran after him. _

_"Wait, Hayner!" _

_Kairi scowled at Selphie. "You see what you did? You see what that fat mouth of yours did?" _

_"I...I...I didn't know he was so sensitive to that kind of stuff," Selphie said, feeling slightly guilty. _

_Kairi rolled her eyes. "Sometimes, I don't even know why I'm friends with you, honestly." Kairi walked off with Riku following her behind. Naminé just looked at Selphie in disappointment before catching up with her sister and Riku. Selphie and Hayner soon made up a little bit after that, but they never truly "friends". They had a brother-sister hate kind of relationship. _

Selphie felt bad about all that now. She realized she's treated Hayner and Sora the same. She's judged them without getting to know them, like Kairi said she did. Selphie looked at Hayner and rubbed his back. "Hey, it's not like you to act like this."

"I'm fine, seriously..." Hayner then smirked. "In fact..."

Hayner got up and headed back down to where the others were, who were all just sitting in their respective seats. Hayner began walking towards the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Tidus.

"You comin' or not?" Hayner asked while continuing to walk. Sora, Kairi, and Tidus just exchanged looks and shrugged. They got up and followed Hayner and Selphie. Hayner looked out the door and saw Pete snoring obnoxiously in his office across the hall. Hayner began walking out and the rest of the gang following.

Selphie looked a little uneasy. "How do you know if he's gonna wake up?"

Hayner kept his stare ahead. "I don't."

"But do you know if we'll make it back in time?"

"I don't."

"But do you know how we'll get away from Mr. Cummings if he starts looking for us?"

"I don't," Hayner looked back at Selphie with a smirk. "Feels good to be bad."

Sora and Kairi were walking side by side a few steps behind Hayner and Selphie. "What the hell are we doing?"

"I wish I knew," Kairi said, just as confused.

"So," Sora said trying to start up a conversation. "How about I make it up to you for earlier. We can go to Paopu's Pallet or something. Just me and you, no Yuffie whatsoever."

Kairi gave him a smirk. "Are you asking me out?"

Sora's face went red. It did sound like that, didn't it? "No! Of course not, I was just wondering if you'd like to go as friends. Tch, not as like, a date or anything."

Kairi giggled. He totally _was _asking her out, even if he didn't want to admit it or not. "You're still on that thing with Yuffie earlier? I said it was cool, I said I believed you."

"I know, but I still feel like that's not enough, I was just thinking that, I don't know, maybe because, I was just-" _Jeez, this is pathetic, _Sora thought. _Since when did I get so nervous around Kairi? __  
_

"Yes," Kairi said. Snapping him out of his thoughts and babble.

Sora was lost. "Huh?"

Kairi smiled at him, "I said yes. I'll hang out with you."

Inside, Sora was bouncing on the walls. He didn't know why, but he felt like he just accomplished something. Of course he had to keep up with appearances. "Whatever," he said, acting like he didn't care. Was Sora beginning to...have feelings for her? No way! He couldn't! He was just being dumb, right? Right...moving on. They all made it to Hayner's locker, where Hayner did his combination and opened his locker where pulled out a big bag. The others looked inside the bag to find that it was a bunch of beers.

"Beer?" Tidus asked. "You brought beer to school?"

Hayner ignored Tidus and began walking back.

"Alcohol, he has alcohol..."

Kairi rolled her eyes at Tidus and began following Hayner. She gestured Sora to follow her, and he did as told. Tidus looked at Selphie, who's mouth was ajar. "Do you approve of this?"

"Um..." Selphie could only respond. Tidus sighed and caught up with the rest of them, and soon Selphie did as well.

...

Pete was still snoring in his office. He started leaning back further and further into his chair until he splashed onto the floor. Pete woke up abruptly, he stood up and dusted himself off. "I need a drink of water..."

Peter began walking off to the water fountain while whistling. The group of five subsequently walked into the hall in which Pete is drinking water, his back turned to them. They quickly ran the other way. They kept running until they got to the next hallway, where they found Mr. Cummings walking down the hall, his back once again to them. They end up sliding, trying to run back the other way.

The five run downstairs into the basement, but Hayner stops. "Wait, no! We have to go through the music room and-"

"No, we're going through the vocal hall!" Tidus argued.

"Listen, squirt, I've been in detention before, I know my way around-"

"No! We're going down the vocal hall and taking the exit stairs up to the second floor! You can go through the music room if you want to, but we're done listening to you!" Tidus then began running the way he said he would. Soon Sora and Kairi followed after him, and Selphie shrugged at Hayner, beginning to follow them as well. Hayner sighed while rolling his eyes and decided he'd might as well just tag along.

The five make it to the vocal hall, but it is barricaded by a gate. After all, it is the weekend practically. No need in it being open.

"Fuck!" Hayner cried. "Nice job, blitz boy."

"Hey, fuck you!" Tidus insulted.

"Fuck _you_! We should have just listened to Hayner!" Sora retorted.

Kairi and Selphie agreed. Kairi sighed, "Great, we're screwed now."

Sora shook his head. "No...just me..."

"What do you mean?" asked Selphie.

"I'm willing to sacrifice myself, just make sure you get up to the library," Sora answered.

Kairi grabbed Sora's arm, "Sora, no!"

"Kairi, it's okay, I got this," Sora gave her his _grin _before running off.

Kairi sighed, and noticed Selphie in shock. "Wow, did you see that smile he made back there? For a second, I thought he looked pretty cute..."

Kairi smirked at her. "Told you so."

Upstairs, Sora was running through the halls tearing down posters and just being a mess while he yelled out the lyrics to a song.

"WHEN YOU WALK AWAY, YOU DON'T HEAR ME SAY PLEEEEEEESE! OH BABY! DON'T GO!"

Pete stopped walking and heard the obnoxious "singing" and growled. He started running off to find the source.

"SIMPLE AND CLEAN IS THE WAY THAT YOU'RE MAKING ME FEEL TONIGHT! IT'S HARD TO LET IT GO!"

Pete busted into the school gym to find Sora shooting a three pointer, which he missed. "Aw, that was shitty! What the fuck, man?!" Sora had to be obnoxious to get Pete's attention. He looked over at Mr. Cummings and put on a fake smile. "Hey, what's up, Mr. Cummings?"

"What in the world do you think yer doin'?!"

"What's it look like? Playing basketball!" Sora said as if it were obvious. "Wanna go one-on-one? I bet you can't shoot a layup to save your life!"

"GET BACK DOWN TO THE LIBRARY AT ONCE!"

Sora thought for a second. He figured his friends would probably be back in the library by now. Sora did as told and headed back to the library with Mr. Cummings following him every step of the way.

* * *

Sora walked into the library with his hands behind his head. Pete shoved Sora forward. "Get yer things ya little crap!" Sora got a little angry from that shove Mr. Cummings just gave him, but he shrugged it off and got his stuff. Pete spoke to everyone. "This little runt thought he could go to the gymnasium and shoot hoops. Hope you all will be okay without his services!"

Sora rolled his eyes while getting his stuff. Kairi looked at him with a concerned look. He only gave her a smile and a wink to assure her things were going to be okay. But Kairi couldn't just let her friend leave like that. She shook her head and looked at Pete with threatening eyes. "Mr. Cummings! I think you're two-timing no good piece of fat monkey degrading shit!"

Everyone stared at Kairi in shock, including Sora and Pete. They couldn't believe she said that. Pete's face soon turned to anger. "Is that so?! Well you get your stuff as well, missy! You're about to join Mr. Hikari here!"

What an idiot, that was her intention. Kairi smiled and grabbed her stuff. Pete began walking out, gesturing Sora and Kairi to follow him. Sora looked at Kairi with wide eyes. She only smirked at Sora and gave him a wink similar to that of which he gave her moments earlier, and confidentially began walking behind Mr. Cummings. Sora's heart skipped a beat, but he ignored it and followed as well.

* * *

Pete opened the janitorial closet and shoved Sora and Kairi inside. He closed the door, locking it as well. He began mumbling to himself in annoyance as he headed back to his office.

Within the closet, Sora sat down on nearby stool. Kairi then turned around to him with her arms behind her back. "So," she said with a smile. "Now what?"

Sora chuckled. "Why'd you do that? You didn't have to come with me."

"No? You would have been fine being in here all alone, instead of having your hot red head best friend in here with you as well?" Kairi took a seat in the stool next to Sora.

"Okay, now you just sound like you're full of yourself."

Kairi giggled. "I can't believe Mr. Cummings fell for that earlier. What I said to him."

"Tch, I'm not. Mr. Cummings isn't smart enough to tie his own shoes." (Reference alert)

Kairi chortled. "Sora, you're such a sweetheart."

Sora raised a brow, "Uh, where'd that come from?"

"You didn't have to get in trouble to save the rest of us. It was Tidus' fault, but you were willing to take the blame," Kairi said with admiration. Kairi began poking his cheek. "I told you that you were a sweetheart."

Sora knocked her hand away. He was slightly embarrassed. "Knock it off, will you? I just figured it wouldn't have been a big deal." Kairi rolled her eyes. Sora was always trying to cover the fact that he really was a good person. Why? Who knew? Kairi then noticed Sora go deep into thought.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about Hayner. That stuff he was saying earlier..."

Kairi raised a brow, "What? The sex? Why? Did you wanna do it right now?"

Sora's eyes widened. "No! No, I wasn't talking about-"

Kairi started giggling. "Relax, I was just joking."

Embarrassed again. Jeez, this girl just couldn't get enough of tormenting Sora, could she? "Right. But I was talking about the thing he said about his parents and life at home."

"Oh yeah, it sounded pretty rough. No wonder he's like that..." Kairi agreed.

"I feel like...I don't know, like I should find some way to help him. Nobody should have to go through something like that."

Kairi smiled at him again. "See? There you go."

"What?"

"Thinking about others before yourself, you're always trying to help people."

Sora turned his head. "I just feel bad for him, that's all."

Kairi took Sora's chin and turned his face to her own. "No...no, it's not...you genuinely care for others, whether you want to admit it or not. Remember that little girl you saved?"

Sora looked at her with wide orbs. "You know about that?"

"Your mom told me."

"Damn, why can't she keep her mouth shut? I swear..."

Kairi smirked, "If you're trying to change the subject, it's not working."

_Damn it! Nothing gets past her_, Sora thought.

"You want to know why I said hi to you that day? The day we first met."

Sora shrugged. "Why?"

"Two peas in the same pot, you and me," She smiled. "I never had the greatest life either, just like you. And I could tell, that day, that you were going through something miserable. I figured I'd help you out."

"Whoa whoa whoa, back up. What do you mean, you had a screwed up life?"

Kairi twiddled her thumbs, "I guess since I know all about the skeletons your closet, I'd guess I should tell you about the skeletons in mine."

Sora was getting interested. He always thought Kairi had a near perfect life. She never showed any signs of weakness before.

Kairi took in a deep breath. "Okay, you ever noticed how me, Naminé, and Axel don't look anything like our mother?" Sora nodded. "Truth is, we're all adopted. Why are we adopted? Came from an abusive house, just like Hayner." Sora couldn't believe it. "It's true. Truth is, I don't even remember my real parents all that well. All I remember is being three years old, and being beaten with a belt all the time, whether it be I spilled milk, or I didn't want to eat my veggies...it's the only stuff I remember from my childhood.

One day, me, Naminé, and Axel were sick of the abuse. So, we ran away. We spent the next two years homeless, scrapping for food. Me and Nam were only six years old at the time, Axel was seven. How Axel kept us fed...how he kept us alive? I don't know, but it's why I'm very grateful for my brother. He may be annoying, but he made sure that me and Naminé were safe. I remember there were some nights he didn't eat or drink at all, just so long as his two little sisters did. I think that's why...you remind me of him."

Sora had to admit he was a little flattered, and rubbed the back of his head.

"Finally, a woman named Jessica took us into her foster home. By the time I was nine, Tifa adopted us. She's one of the most caring and gentle people I've met, who knows how to kick butt too, ha ha! Yeah, we got along really good. But her husband, Rick Valomourie (A/N:yeah, i just made him up), he was an entirely different story. He used cheat on Tifa all the time, and he beat her occasionally. And occasionally...he beat us, as well. We had to run away with Tifa to get away from Rick. We went to so many different houses, so many different neighborhoods, and they were all crap. I can't tell you how many times my jewelry was robbed or my money stolen because we were in some ghetto, criminal infested place. By the time I was fourteen, we found a small apartment and Tifa got a job at Strife Academy. After my freshmen year, we got enough money to afford a decent house, and Naminé dyed her hair blonde.

"That's when we moved to Kingdom Key Street, and that's when I met you." Kairi smiled at Sora. "And when I first saw you, that's when I knew you were going through something. That's why I knew I had to help you out. I knew...I had to be your friend. Being with you, I don't know why, but it's been making the pain go away. The pain I had to go through."

Suddenly, Kairi felt Sora giving her a passionate embrace, he felt warm. She didn't know where it came from and was a little shocked.

"Kairi..." He rubbed her back. "I'm so sorry..."

Kairi smiled and hugged Sora back, a single tear fell from her eye. "I'm sorry for what _you _had to go through." _  
_

It occurred to Sora that this was the first time he and Kairi shared a real hug. He wished he did this a little more often. They pulled apart and Kairi put a hand on his cheek.

"It's weird, I think you really _are _my best friend. What I just told you, I haven't even told Selphie," Kairi said.

"Yeah, well...you're the first best friend I've ever had."

Kairi put her hands to her heart. "Flattered," she teased. "I knew I could tell you about my past, I knew you'd understand. That's why I never told Selphie, or anyone else. They wouldn't understand, but you do, don't you?"

"Of course," Sora said as he playfully hit her on the forehead. "Who do you take me for?"

Kairi rolled her eyes playfully, "I forgot who I was dealing with." Kairi yawned.

"Tired?"

"Yeah, I seriously want to go home," Kairi pointed to Sora's lap. "Can I borrow that?"

"Huh? What are you-" before he could ask her what she meant, he found Kairi sitting on his lap, and resting her head on Sora's shoulder. "What the-Kairi! What are you doing?"

"Resting myself, asshole," Kairi teased.

"But you can't do that, what about-"

"Oh please, quit pretending like you don't like it," Kairi said as she winked.

He had to admit, he didn't mind it. But, "What about Riku? I mean won't he-"

"Riku's not here, is he? Now shut up, will you? I need to relax and you're a very comfortable chair right now," Kairi said with a smile. She closed her eyes and rested her head back on Sora's shoulder.

"I'm glad that we've come far enough in our friendship that you think can of me as a cushion," Sora said with a sarcastic tone. Kairi giggled. He really was enjoying Kairi's company right now, though. He honestly didn't want this moment to end. Sora leaned back in the stool and closed his eyes, a smile on his face.

* * *

Selphie chugged down a beer. "Oh man, did you guys know that I loooooovvve bananas? I have this theory that bananas come from the planet bananong and will take over the world one day. Isn't that like totally cool?!" Selphie was drunk.

Same went for Hayner and Tidus as well. They had all been drinking the beers from Hayner's locker and were now smashed. Wakka was _still _out of it, snoring as the saliva trailed down the corners of his mouth.

"Oh man, this shit is so disgusting...so why can't I stop drinking it?" Tidus said while chuckling.

"Because it makes you feel great," Hayner answered.

"Omg, omg, omg! I've got to get some alcohol for my party next week! Hayner, you've got to bring some of this to my party, okay?!" Selphie cheered.

"Eh, to be honest, I don't even like beer that much. I only keep it in my locker for occasions like this, to get drunk when I'm bored as shit in detention. I'll bring something better than beer, don't you worry," Hayner said as he laid his head back on the chair. He smiled. "You know, I know I'm drunk, but I _feel _like I'm high for some reason."

"Hey! I know, what if we were in a story created by someone and we're just like parodying a part in a movie where we're supposed to be high but the author just decided to use alcohol instead because they felt like it."

Hayner and Tidus just looked at each other for a second and then just busted into laughter.

"Selphie, you're even weirder when you're drunk!" Tidus commented.

"I know, tee hee!"

Suddenly, the sky hook window opened, and someone jumped inside, landing on their feet and started looking at the three drunken teenagers with a blank stare.

"Who the hell are you?" Tidus eyed her up and down, giving her a smirk. "And can I have your number?"

"I'm the great ninja Yuffie!" Yuffie said as she put up the peace sign. "Is Sora Hikari here?"

"Yeah, he and Kairi should be stuck in the janitorial closet. That's where Mr. Cummings put me in the last time I got on his nerves," Hayner answered.

"Let's go get 'em! I'm bustin' you guys out!"

They led Yuffie out of the hallway and began heading to the janitor closet. Yuffie noticed Mr. Cummings in his office asleep. "Hey, is that fat guy the one who made you all stay after school?"

"Yeah, why?" asked Selphie.

Yuffie ignored her and pulled out a gadget of hers. It looked pretty small. About the size of a cell phone. Yuffie tip toed into Mr. Cummings office, making sure not to wake him. She held up her gadget, and a laser zapped itself on Pete's head, registering into his brain.

"Done!" Yuffie exclaimed. She walked back out with Hayner, Tidus, and Selphie, and they continued down to the janitor closet.

"What'd you do?" asked Hayner.

"I just used my little device here to zap that fat guy and give him partial memory loss! Now he won't remember ever giving you guys detention!"

"That's wicked...!" Tidus said a little slurred. Yuffie smelt his breath, and she was able to confirm that it was beer. Not that she's ever had any.

"Where'd you get that thing from?" asked Selphie.

"I made it," Yuffie answered cheerfully.

"Wow, you're awesome! How do you know Sora and Kairi?" asked Tidus.

She smiled at them, "They're my best friends!"

* * *

Back in the closet, Sora and Kairi were still in the same position. Kairi on Sora's lap and the two enjoying each other's presence. Neither of them wanted the moment to end, they wanted to just hold each other. Their past, their problems, their worries, their fears, their insecurities, their doubts, none of it mattered anymore.

But of course, all great things must come to an end. The door was kicked down, startling the pair. They thought it was Mr. Cummings for a second, but it was only Yuffie.

"Hiya! Did'ja miss me?"

"Yuffie!" They both said, Sora a little more shocked and excited and Kairi a little more shocked and annoyed. Now Kairi had _another _reason to gripe at Yuffie. She just ruined her moment with Sora.

Sora was a little disappointed as well, but Yuffie always made things more interesting, so he wasn't too upset. Yuffie noticed the position they were in.

"Whoa, am I interrupting something?"

Sora ignored her question. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Yes, Yuffie, what _are _you doing here?" Kairi asked with irritation.

"I'm here to bust you guys out of this dull joint! I was at Paopu's Pallet waiting for you guys but you never showed up. Then I asked the owner, Mr. Xehanort, and he said that you called in and said you weren't performing until tomorrow. So I went to Sora's house and still didn't find you, then I asked Ms. Lockhart where you were and she said you were in detention, so I asked for the directions to the school and for some reason she gave them to me. Here I am. Now, come on!"

Sora and Kairi got up and got their bags, and walked out.

"You're a lifesaver Yuffie," Sora said while touching her shoulder, he then walked up to Hayner and the gang. Kairi walked up to Yuffie and scowled.

"I hate you," Kairi said. She didn't really hate Yuffie, but she was pretty pissed that she had to get off of Sora's lap because of her.

Yuffie shrugged with a smile, "Hey, you ruined my moment with Sora earlier, seems only fitting that I'd ruin yours!"

Kairi sighed and smiled at Yuffie. "I guess karma's a bitch."

Yuffie nodded and turned to everyone else. "Now troops, I have one, very important thing to tell you all, that I hope you all take to heart...let's get the fuck outta here."

The rest of them agreed and decided to run their way out of the school.

* * *

The six made it outside of the school and congratulated each other for a job well done. Yuffie looked back at Strife Academy with intense eyes. "Hm...so that's what a school looks like."

Sora walked up to Yuffie from behind. "What's wrong, Yuff?" (Pronounced "Yoof")

Yuffie shook her head and put her signature smile back on, "Nothing."

"Oh crap!" Tidus cried. "We forgot about Wakka!"

No one else really cared. "Psh, _I'm _not goin' back in there," Yuffie said.

"Yeah, he'll probably be okay," Sora agreed.

* * *

Pete woke up from his slumber and rubbed his eyes. He looked around and noticed he was in his office. "Why the heck am I still here?"

Pete got up and groggily walked into the library and noticed Wakka was asleep in his seat. Pete walked up to him and shoved him hard enough to wake the star athlete up.

"What the hell, man!" Wakka cried.

"Why are you here?"

"What? Is detention over?"

"Detention? I never assigned you any detention!"

"What are you talking about? You gave me, Tidus, Selphie, Sora, Kairi, and Hayner detention for starting up a food fight! You remember, ya?"

"Food fight...Hayner...wha?! I don't know what you're talkin' about! But you know what, you got a detention next Friday for lying about having detention and sleeping in the library!"

Wakka was speechless.

"See you then, ya little chump. Hurry up and get outta here, before I pound some sense into ya!" Pete left the room and closed the door, leaving Wakka in the room all by himself.

Wakka looked around, and none of his friends were in the room. What happened to them? Did they escape? If so, why didn't they wake him up? Were they just assholes like that? Was it all just a dream? No, it couldn't have been! He clearly remembers physically entering the library and the food fight. So, what in the world happened while he was sleeping? Did he imagine everything? Well, there was only one word that could describe the way he was feeling right now.

"FUCK!"

* * *

A/N: Yea, this is a parody of the breakfast club movie, and no i dont own it. anyway, tell me what u think!


	9. The Day She Slipped Away

Chapter 9

Ugh, you know how you wake up in the morning and your breath tastes like shit? Sora hates that. He opened his eyes and looked out the window, dreading the day ahead. But then he remembered, it's Saturday! He can just sleep all day long and not have a care in the world.

"Mmm..." he heard a moan.

It sounded all too familiar, and Sora turned to his right and found Yuffie's beautiful sleeping face beside him once more. He was for certain he saw her walk back home yesterday, he was positive. Sora jumped out of bed in fright, but the memories came back and he realized it was only Yuffie, for the second day in the row. He sighed and cracked his back. Sora looked down at Yuffie, who shifted in her sleep until she got comfortable again.

_I wonder why she keeps sneaking into my room, _Sora thought. It was peculiar. Didn't she live somewhere else? She said she lived in an apartment. She must have had something troubling her, but what could it be? Sora was too tired to think about it right now. He pulled the covers over Yuffie and allowed her to get a little warmer. Sora put on some sweats so that he could walk around more casually in the house. The brunet walked downstairs, where he expected Aerith to be cooking breakfast, but she wasn't there. Instead, it was Roxas, sitting at the table talking on the phone.

"No I love _you _more," Roxas said with a smile. Sora rolled his eyes. He should have known his brother would have been talking to Naminé. Roxas had been talking about her almost non-stop. He was sure he and Kairi were in the same situation. Sora walked back upstairs, finding nothing to be of his interest down here. He walked back into his room to find Yuffie fully dressed and looking out the window. Sora noticed that she was wearing the same outfit _again._

"Yuffie?" Sora said to catch her attention.

Yuffie turned around and smiled at him. "Mornin'!"

"You seemed to be in deep thought while looking out the window. What's the matter?"

"Nothin'. I'm just bored."

Sora sat on his bed, "You got something in mind about what you want to do today?"

"I can't really think of anything at the moment. Hey! Aren't we supposed to be going to see your performance today?"

Great, as if Sora needed to be reminded about that. He had forgotten all about it, and he wasn't looking forward to it. If he messed up, he'd be done for.

"Yeah, that's right. Hey, are you coming to see it?"

Yuffie smiled, "Of course I am, silly!"

"Wearing that?" Sora said while pointing to her tattered up clothing that she oddly seemed to always wear.

"What's wrong with this?" she asked slightly offended.

"I mean, it's just, you're always wearing that. It seems kinda dirty, don't you think?"

Yuffie shrugged, "I don't have anything else to wear."

Sora looked kind of confused and slightly worried, "You don't?" Yuffie shook her head. "How long have you been wearing that?"

Yuffie rubbed the back of her head kind of nervously. "That's...kinda embarrassing..."

Sora nodded. "I see, that's all I needed to know." Sora grabbed his phone off of his table and dialed Kairi's number. "Kai, get over here and bring a good outfit of yours. Yuffie needs one." He paused for a second. "Thanks, later."

Yuffie lifted an eyebrow at Sora.

"Alright, get out of those clothes, I'll wash them for you."

"You don't mind me walking around in my underwear?"

Sora shrugged, "It's not like I haven't already seen you in it."

"WOO!" Yuffie literally jumped out of clothes, like you see in the cartoons. How she did that kind of stuff, Sora may never know. Sora went over and picked up the dirty clothes. He sniffed them, and they smelt terrible. She must have had them for a really long time. No wonder Yuffie tried stealing his wallet when he first met her.

Yuffie landed behind Sora and gave him a big hug. "Thank you, Sor! You rock!"

Yuffie's clothes smelt like shit, but Yuffie herself smelt divine. It was odd, but Sora thought nothing more of it and decided to walk off to the laundry room, he passed Roxas in the hall, who was done talking to Naminé on the phone.

"Hey, Roxie, don't go in my room. You'll faint if you do."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm used to it, so it's okay for me. You on the other hand, I don't trust you, so please...just don't." Sora continued off to the laundry room.

"Tch, whatever. Like I'd want to go in your crummy old room anyway." But Roxas' curiosity was starting to get the best of him. What could possibly be in Sora's room that Sora could handle, but _he _couldn't? What could be the worst thing in there anyway? Sora was probably exaggerating. Roxas decided to walk up to Sora's room and take a peek inside, to find the overbearing sight of Yuffie sitting on Sora's bed in her bra and panties switching the channels on Sora's TV.

Sora came walking back down the hall after putting Yuffie's clothes in the washer, but came across an expectant Roxas unconscious by his door. "Damn it, Roxas..."

The doorbell rang, and Sora decided he'd leave his hopeless brother for a second while he went to go answer the door. It was inevitably Kairi, holding a bag which most likely had the outfit Sora told her to bring. Kairi yawned as she walked in.

"You just woke up too?"

Kairi nodded. "Just be glad _you _didn't wake me up or else I'd be pissed off at you."

"You still seem a little pissed, what's wrong?"

"Ugh, Riku kept me up all night talking to me on the phone. I didn't go to sleep until like two in the morning because of him."

"Sucks," Sora said, not really interested in a conversation about Riku.

"Speaking of Riku, I gotta hurry up and get out of here. We're finally going on that stupid date today," Kairi said while rolling her eyes. She definitely didn't want to go, she'd much rather hang out with Sora and Yuffie, but she made an obligation to him.

"Wait, so you won't be coming to Paopu's Pallet tonight?"

"Of course I will. We're just gonna go on the date before tonight, it was his suggestion." Kairi looked around and noticed she didn't see an energetic raven-haired 'great ninja' bouncing on the walls. "Where's Yuffie?"

"Upstairs. Come on," Sora said while leading Kairi up to his room. They walked up to Sora's room where Roxas was still unconscious. Kairi was about to ask what happened to Roxas, but Sora interrupted her before she could say anything. "Don't ask."

Sora opened the door to his room, trying not to look inside. "Go ahead."

Kairi walked into Sora's room to spot Yuffie in her half-naked form and her eye twitched. Yuffie spotted her and waved enthusiastically. "HIII!"

"Hi, umm..." Kairi said a little irritably. If Yuffie and Sora had sex, she was gonna break Sora's neck.

As if Yuffie read her mind, she shook her head. "Don't worry, me and Sora didn't do anything."

Kairi sighed a sigh of relief. Kairi put the bag on Sora's bed and showed Yuffie the outfit. Yuffie's eyes widened. "Ooh, I like!"

Yuffie ran into Sora's closet with the bag. In about a minute, Yuffie walked out with a metal headband with two green tassels, a yellow scarf, a green tube top with two blue belts holding it up, tan short-shorts with a blue belt hugging her waist loosely, orange shoes, white socks that went up about to her mid-thighs, and mesh sleeves on her arms that disappeared into orange, finger less gloves. (To put it simpler, she's wearing the same outfit she wore in the first KH Game, and yes, I got that description from wiki :P)

"So, what do you think?" Kairi asked.

"I LOVE IT!" the hyperactive girl answered immediately. Kairi gave her a friendly smile and nodded.

"So, what's the agenda for you today?" asked Kairi.

Yuffie shrugged, "Probably just hang out here at Sora's place. I got nothing better to do."

"Lucky you. I wish all _I _had to do was hang around here."

"Are you coming to the Pallet tonight?"

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it for anything." Kairi's phone rang and she groaned when she saw who it was, but answered it anyway. "Hello?"

"Hey, babe, I'm gonna be there in about five minutes, so wait for me on your porch," Riku said on the other line.

"Okay."

"Love you, by-"

Kairi quickly hung up and pretended to not hear him finish his sentence. She did _not _want to have be pressured into saying that back. Kairi let out a sigh before walking out and waving to Yuffie. Yuffie returned the gesture with a sympathetic look. She knew Kairi didn't want to go out with the boy she was talking about.

Kairi walked out of the room and bumped into Sora in the hall. "Oops, sorry."

"No, it's okay," Sora said with a smile.

Awkward silence ensued. They both had something on their mind, but they just didn't know what to say.

"Listen, Sora," Kairi began. Sora gave her his full attention. "I have to go on that date with Riku, now."

Sora rubbed the back of his head. "Okay..."

Kairi gave him a worried look. "You're okay with that, right?"

Sora turned his head stubbornly. "Of course I'm okay with it, what do you take me for anyway? Why would I be mad about something like that? Just go out and have fun, okay?" He pretended as if he didn't care, but the fact that Kairi was about to go out on a date with Riku was eating him alive, he had no idea why. But there was no way he was going to admit that.

Next thing he knew, Kairi was hugging him. Similar to the hug he gave her yesterday...warm.

"I just want you to know, that...even though we haven't known each other _that _long, you...you're the best friend I've ever had."

She was saying that as if she weren't going to ever see Sora again, but nonetheless, he hugged back. What was this? Why did something just not feel right? The fact that Kairi was going out on a date with Riku, and Sora himself wasn't apart of it. It seemed right, but something about it all felt off. Something about this whole situation just sucked.

But why?

He and Kairi were best friends, there should be nothing wrong with her going out with another boy romantically, right?

Right? They pulled apart. "I'll see you tonight, okay? I promise," Kairi assured.

"Okay," Sora said. With that, Kairi headed downstairs and off to her place. Sora walked into his room where he found Yuffie watching TV. It seemed like she was spending so much time at Sora's that it was almost like she lived there. And the weird thing was, Sora couldn't recall her ever meeting Aerith.

"Hey, Yuff, have you ever met my mom?"

Yuffie thought about it for a second. "No, I don't think so. I've always snuck into your room."

Sora rubbed the back of his head, "You should probably come and meet my mom."

"Okay!"

* * *

Kairi sat on her porch, and soon a limo pulled up in front of her house looking expectant. Kairi was surprised, no way could Riku afford that!

Oh, but he could.

The back window rolled down and there he was, Mr. Macho himself. He gave Kairi a wink. "Get in."

Kairi nodded, still awestruck. But before she could get inside, four people dressed in T-shirts, vests, and fedoras walked out of the large limousine, and began walking up to Sora's house. Kairi looked at them a little confusedly, but decided to just ignore it and go inside Riku's limo. She got in and sat on the comfortable cushion, adjacent from Riku.

"So, you like?" asked Riku, referring to the limo.

"Yeah, I like! How could you afford this?"

Riku chuckled, "It's not mine, silly, it's a rental."

Kairi felt a little dumb for thinking it was his, and just smiled. She looked back at Sora's house, where Aerith allowed the four boys inside. "Who are those boys?"

Riku snickered a little. "Just the dancers I promised Sora."

Kairi did recall Riku offering to get Sora some backup dancers the day before. "So, where are we headed?"

"First, we're gonna go grab something to eat, then we'll get out and have some real fun."

Kairi will admit, she was a little impressed with Riku's preparation. "I see you've had this all planned out."

Riku smirked. "I've been planning a date with you ever since I first laid my eyes on you."

"If you liked me for so long, why didn't you tell me a while ago?"

"I thought you wouldn't return my feelings."

Kairi chuckled nervously. _I honestly don't, _she thought. She felt slightly guilty for leading him on like this. But as long as he was happy...

"Yes, well," Kairi said trying to end this topic.

* * *

"Okay, on the count of three. One...two...three, ho!"

Sora and the four dancers jumped into the air, proceeding to land on their feet. They put their right hand out as they kicked out their right leg, sliding it on the ground and arching both legs, a hand over their heads. They then turned around and put both arms out, fists on the ends of each, they turned back around. They beat their chest and dipped down while circulating their arms. They then put their hands out to the left and pulled it while doing a sequence of footwork moves heading towards their right. They kicked out and jumped back to their original stance and did two poses. They finished the dance off with a series of kicking out moves. (If you want to know what dance they're doing, it's just the end dance to Chris Brown's Fine China.)

Sora turned the music off and drank from a water bottle. He gave his associates a smile. "That was pretty good, guys. If we keep this up, this performance should be a hit."

The rest of them nodded and agreed. They hadn't said anymore than five words since meeting Sora. "Wow, uh, you guys don't talk much, huh?"

They didn't respond.

"Right...well, I guess you guys can chill here for a bit," Sora said as he headed up the stairs. He felt very melancholic at the moment, and he didn't know why. Was it because he knew Kairi was out with Riku? Something about that just irked him, but why? Is it true that the thing he denied the most was true? The thing he always told himself would never happen, the thing he always tried to convince himself was just a fluke. No way could he possibly...

Have feelings for Kairi.

Yes, not just feelings like he cared for her, like, _romantic _feelings. Was it in his head? Was he thinking straight? Only one person could know.

Sora walked into his room where he found Roxas and Yuffie playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl on his Wii.

Roxas was concentrating with all his brainpower to defeat Yuffie. Yuffie just looked bored. Eventually, the match ended, and Roxas threw his controller on the ground.

"Oh, damn it all!"

Yuffie yawned and gave him a smirk. "That's the eighth match in a row I beat you. Do you seriously want to keep wasting your time?" she asked.

Roxas sat back down and picked up the controller. "Of course I do! There's no way I'm gonna let you beat me! I mean, didn't you say you've never played this game before?"

"Nope," Yuffie smiled.

"THEN WHY ARE YOU SO GOOD?!"

"Hey, Roxas," Sora said, driving him out of his rampage. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Uh, sure, I guess."

Yuffie understood it wasn't her place to be here, so she got up and left the room.

Roxas and Sora sat on Sora's bed to get more comfortable, and Sora began twiddling his thumbs.

"So, what's up?" asked the golden-blond boy.

"When you fell for Naminé, what did it feel like?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, what was the process?"

"Um, why?"

"Just answer it you shit head!"

Roxas raised his hands defensively. "Calm down. Okay, let's see here. First, there was the denial."

Uh-oh. That's check number one. Sora definitely had denial about his feelings.

"For a second, I thought there was no way I could like Naminé. Sure, she's beautiful but I thought maybe I was just fooling myself. I thought if I ended up being in a serious relationship with her, I'd just end up with a broken heart."

This was sounding all too familiar.

"After the denial, came the jealousy."

Check number two.

"Whenever we were watching TV or looking at pictures or something, Naminé would usually point out if there was a guy on the screen she thought was cute, and I just wanted to rip the guy's head off. After that, it was when the comfort kicked in. It got to the point where I felt like Naminé would always be there for me, and I her."

Check number three.

"It got to the point where, even though me and Nam hadn't known each other that much, it felt like I had known her forever. Like she was the sister I never had."

Check number four.

"And then that's when the ish got real, and I found out that I really enjoyed Naminé's company no matter how much I tried to deny it."

Gulp.

"And that's when I realized...I really did have feelings for her."

Then it was settled, Sora fit all of those descriptions.

Sora liked Kairi. A lot.

Now he definitely had something to think about. Now what was he going to do? Did he just brush her off into the arms of Riku? His worst enemy at this point?

Sora got up and walked over to his table and placed his hands on it while in thought.

"Sora?" Roxas asked concerned.

That was it. As he spoke, Kairi was now officiating her romantic relationship with Riku. She was going off to a happier extent in her life, and Sora himself wasn't going to be there for it. He was now going to take a step back in her mind, he wasn't going to be number one for her anymore. The passenger seat he once held will be gone and replaced with a silver-haired foe, and there's nothing he could do about it now. He was too late, and was being too much of an idiot to realize his feelings sooner. Kairi was going off to be happy, with _someone. _

And that someone wasn't him. Let that register in his mind for just one second.

...

...

...

...

...

DAMN IT!

Sora used a fist to angrily punch the table. How could he be such an idiot? What if everything he said came true? What would happen then? He would be all alone.

If Kairi were to grow feelings for Riku, that was it. He was done. Kairi wouldn't hang out with him anymore, only Riku. She wouldn't call him anymore to ask to hang out at Paopu's Pallet anymore, because she'd be out with Riku.

Riku.

Riku...

_Riku..._

"Hey, Sora, are you alright?" Roxas asked as he walked up to his brother, a bit worried. He was starting to get concerned when Sora punched the table.

"Roxas...I think..."

Roxas looked at him with anticipation.

"I think...I like Kairi..."

Roxas then slugged in disappointment. "You think you like her? Of course you like her, she's your best friend, right?"

"Not like that, you retard," Sora said, not moving a muscle. "I meant I _like _her."

Silence.

Silence.

Silence.

"Bro," Roxas began. "THAT'S AWESOME! I always knew you had some feelings for Kai, but I didn't want to accuse you of anything! That's great, dude! I'm happy for you! You should go and tell her how you feel!"

Sora got up and put his hands in his pockets. "It's not that simple. Not anymore."

Roxas was confused. "What are you talking about? Just go over there and tell that girl!"

Sora looked at Roxas, and gave him a smile. He envied his brother for finding true happiness with that one special person he loved oh so dearly. He didn't feel like explaining his situation, so he decided it'd be best if he'd not bring it up.

"Be happy, Roxie, to have found someone special to you in your life."

Sora walked out of the room and shut the door. Roxas was lost, not knowing why Sora was acting so weird. Soon, Sora peered his head back into the room. "Um, Roxas..."

"Yeah?"

"This is my room."

"Um, oka-"

"Get out. Now."

* * *

And so it was here, the night Sora had been dreading the most. The night of his performance.

Sora looked out in the audience, where he saw a big table with a lot of people. The closer he looked, the more he began to recognize the people sitting there.

There was Tidus, Wakka, Selphie, Olette, Hayner, Pence, Naminé, and Yuffie.

But where was Kairi?

He was grateful that they were all there, but this performance meant nothing if his best friend wasn't out there to cheer him on. No way would Kairi just ditch on him like that, though. Right? She promised she'd be here. She _promised. _

A hand touched his shoulder. Could it be Kairi? Sora turned around. Nope. Only his brother, Roxas, dressed up in a tuxedo.

"Damn, you look sexy tonight," Roxas complimented.

Sora smiled, knowing his brother was just trying to cheer him up. Perhaps he wasn't as good at hiding his emotions. Sora was wearing a black-grayish button-up shirt that wasn't tucked in, an un-zipped leather jacket, some black skinny jeans, and a fedora. His shoes had leather soles on them to help him dance a little easier.

Mr. Xehanort walked up to Sora with a grimace expression on his face. "I do very hope that this was worth it, boy."

Sora chuckled nervously and nodded. "It will be. I'm sorry about this too, sir."

Mr. Xehanort nodded. He liked Sora a lot but he didn't appreciate having to reschedule his performance twice just to have it right back on the same night.

The stage director ran up to Sora.

"One minute, Hikari! One minute!"

Sora nodded. He then turned to his brother again. "Hey, have you seen Kairi around here by any chance?"

Roxas shook his head with a saddened expression.

"I see..." Sora said melancholic.

Roxas put a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"It's okay, honestly," Sora said, half-lying.

"Thirty seconds!" The stage director chimed in.

"I guess I'd better head back," Roxas said. "Good luck. And don't worry, I'm sure Kairi'll be here soon."

Sora nodded slightly more optimistically as his brother went back to the table. Sora took in a deep breath as the curtains lifted and the music began. It was inevitably_ Fine China _by Chris Brown. Sora adjusted his headset and was met with a screen that had a blue light shun on it, and Sora began dancing. Nothing choreographed, though, it was off the top of his head, but it looked really good. Soon the screen lifted and Sora put on a convincing fake smile as he walked on the stage and began singing and dancing.

_Baby~_

_Does he do it for ya?~ _

_When he's finished does he step back and adore ya?~ _

_I just gotta know~_

_'Cause your time is money and I won't let him waste it~ _

_No no no~_

_Baby~_

_Just go with it~_

_Cause when you're with me I can't explain it, it's just different~_

_We can take it slow~ _

_Or act like you're my girl, let's skip the basics~_

_Whoa, no~_

_He's so replaceable~ _

_Ba dah dah, ba dah, ah! Ba da ah! _

_You're worth the chase you're puttin' on~ _

_It's alright~_

_I'm not dangerous~_

_When you're mine~_

_I'll be generous~ _

_You're irreplaceable~_

_A collectible~_

_Just like Fine China~_

The group at the table were amazed at Sora. Selphie found that Kairi was right again, Sora _was _really hot, especially when he moved like that. Why did she ever fail to see his attractiveness before? Oh well, another point for Kairi, she guessed. Yuffie was pleasantly surprised as well. She thought Sora was cute enough when he wasn't performing, but when he was, she found him incredibly sexy. Tidus and Wakka were impressed as well. They came here expecting to laugh at Sora, but they were positively surprised at how well Sora could dance and sing. Pence and Olette were enjoying it a lot, too. Olette found herself in the same boat as Selphie and Yuffie with thoughts of finding Sora particularly attractive, but she decided she'd best keep that thought to herself, what with her boyfriend sitting right next to her.

Speaking of which, Hayner was also enjoying himself, although he refused to show it and acted like he didn't care, but he too thought Sora was a really good dancer. He secretly tapped his shoe to the beat underneath the table. Roxas and Naminé already knew how good Sora was, so it wasn't as much of a surprise, but they cheered him on anyway.

_Took me a while to find, your love~_

_Ain't no amount of time, in this world~_

_Save me a lot of time, and just love me~_

_Feel it, baby, feel it in your soul~_

_Are you ready?~_

_I know your heart's been tellin' you belong to me, ah nah nah no~ _

Three of four dancers walked onto the stage, ready to do the ending dance with Sora, they jumped into the air, but the lights cut off while they were in mid-air and the music stopped. The audience members, who were all enjoying Sora's stage presence, were looking confused by the fact it ended so abruptly.

When the lights cut back on, Sora was on the ground, the dancers weren't in sight.

"Sora!" his friends from the audience said as they ran up on stage.

Roxas helped Sora up. "What happened?"

"I...I don't even remember..."

The audience looked at Sora with disappointment, and then began booing Sora off stage for his abrupt end of his performance. Sora didn't really care at the moment, though, his head was killing him. He had to go home, now. Roxas and the others led Sora out of the Pallet, the boos echoing in their ears.

* * *

Sora didn't feel very good, so everyone decided to just depart. Sora, Roxas, and Naminé went home. When they arrived, the first thing Sora did was run over to the Lockhart's house. He rung the doorbell and Ms. Lockhart answered the door.

"Oh, hello Sora. How are you this evening?"

"Um, fine. Is Kairi here?"

"Yeah. I'll call her down." Tifa looked up at the staircase. "Kairi! Sora's here!"

Roxas kissed Naminé goodnight and she walked in the house, and placed an understanding hand on Sora's shoulder as she went past him.

After a few moments, Kairi came down the stairs with a big smile on her face. "Oh, hi Sora!" she greeted.

Sora looked at her as if she were an idiot. "Where were you?"

Kairi looked at him confusedly, "Where was I? What are you talking about? I was out with Riku!"

The way she said it, it almost sounded like she _enjoyed _her time with him. But how could that be? Just earlier, she was dreading to have to go on a date with him. No way, they probably got caught up in traffic or something and that's why she couldn't make it to his performance, that's it.

"Did...did you forget about something?" asked Sora.

"Hmm, no I don't think so." And then it hit her. "Oh my god! Sora, I'm _so _sorry! I forgot all about going to Paopu's Pallet!"

Sora sighed, "It's okay, I guess." No, it wasn't okay. But Sora wasn't going to start up an argument right now, he was too tired, too beat up. "So, how was your date?"

Something lit up in Kairi's eyes, "Magical," she answered.

Sora was starting to feel something swirl in his stomach. "What exactly do you mean?"

"I never realized how great of a guy Riku was until tonight, he showed me how important I am to him, and I found out how special he was in my heart."

_It was the evening, the breeze was cool, and the sky looked gorgeous. Riku and Kairi had been all over town, Riku had treated Kairi to a night she'd never forget. He bought her jewelry, food, and to top it all off, they went to the carnival. Cheesy, yes, but convenient. He was able to win her every prize she had her heart set on. Kairi found that she had a respect for Riku all along, she realized how caring and genuine he was. She felt something tingling in her heart every time she gave him a look. _

_Now here they were, sitting on the top of the Station Tower, overlooking all of Twilight Town. Kairi had set all of her presents and prizes aside, but hugged on the stuffed bear Riku won for her. Riku had an arm around her shoulder. _

_"Twilight Town is so beautiful at night, isn't it?" Kairi said._

_"Not as beautiful as you," Riku complimented. What a corn ball. _

_Kairi blushed. She didn't know why, but she was starting to have feelings for Riku. He was being sweeter than usual, so kind, and generous. _

_"Can I tell you something, Kai?" asked Riku. _

_"You don't have to ask that," Kairi said with a smirk. _

_"I know, it's just...do you know how long I've been waiting for this? This moment, where it would finally be you and me, alone, watching the sky. I've dreamed about it for years, and for some reason you just seemed out of reach. I've spent days and nights praying one day I could get the courage to ask you out." _

_"I'm sorry I've caused you so much trouble." _

_"You haven't," he smiled. "That moment when I asked you out, and you said yes, it was the happiest moment of my life, so far anyway." _

_Kairi blushed again. _

_"You were always there for me, weren't you Kai? You've always stuck by me." _

_"I have, haven't I?" Kairi hugged her teddy bear harder. _

_"Remember when we used to live in Destiny City when we were kids? We used to play on the Islands all the time?" _

_"Sweet memories," Kairi said while reminiscing. "I'm feelin' nostalgic." _

_"I gotta tell you, Kai, this has got to be one of the greatest nights of my life." _

_"Well can I ask you something?" Kairi asked, getting a little more serious. _

_"Of course." _

_"Why me? Why'd you choose me, of all the girls you could easily choose at the Academy, why am I the lucky girl?" _

_"Are you seriously asking me that?" Riku asked with a raised brow. "You're the most gorgeous girl I've ever laid my eyes on." _

_Kairi gave him a scowl. "Is that it?" _

_Riku chuckled. "No...it's because you don't treat me like all the other girls. You've always treated me like a regular person, like a human being. All the other girls are a bunch of crazies who end up getting clingy or obsessed. You're not like that, you're just...down to earth, you know?" _

_Kairi giggled. She had to admit, Riku sure did know how to sweet talk. She was finding herself getting more and more infatuated with the boy. If he keeps this up..._

_"You're just saying that..." Kairi said, teasing him. _

_Riku took her face and took her chin to face him. He looked her in the eyes with passion Kairi had never seen before in another man. "No...no, I'm not." And pressed his lips onto hers. Kairi felt a sensation throughout all of her body. _

_She had never had a kiss feel so wondrous before, she felt like she was on a cloud. _

_It was confirmed, she had fallen for Riku. _

_The two broke apart. _

_"That was...that was nice," Kairi said nervously. _

_"So, will you be my girl, Kai?" Riku asked. _

_"Of course!" Kairi answered, locking her lips back onto Riku's. _

"I see..." Sora said as she finished her sentence. He felt terrible, like his gut had been punched in the worst spot possible. At this point, he just felt like crying the night away. Fate, it can be an asshole, can it not? The day he realizes and admits to himself that he had strong feelings for Kairi, is the same day those feelings were destroyed underneath her boot.

The way Kairi told her story, Sora knew, she really was happy. Perhaps, it wasn't his place to make her feel that happy. He was a strong believer in destiny, and maybe his destiny was to just be friend zoned. It was a feeling that hurt, but if it was his place, then he'd except it with tears pouring down his eyes.

"I'm...I'm glad you had a great time," Sora said while holding back his tears.

"Yeah, I never thought I'd actually fall for Riku..." Kairi said with a smile. It was crushing Sora on the inside, to see her so happy and to know he himself wasn't giving her that happiness. She put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, I'm really sorry for not making it to your performance. I promise I'll make it to your next one, for real this time."

Sora nodded. Kairi didn't realize how sad Sora was, since she was so happy it almost blinded her from all sadness.

"I'm gonna head on home," Sora said.

"You're not going to stay for bit? It's only eight thirty."

"I'm tired."

Sora then quickly ran away before the sight of Kairi killed him any further. Sora ran inside and up to his room, locking himself in. He threw his fedora off and got up on his bed. He crawled over to a corner over by his bed and leaned back on the wall, letting a tear drop slide down his cheek. He never thought for a second seeing Kairi have a boyfriend would crush him this hard, but he was hurting really bad. He didn't want to be bothered by anybody.

How could Kairi do this to him? She gave him all of those signs, like when she sat on his lap, when she teased him, when she got jealous over Yuffie...was it all fake? Was it all a lie? He accused her for leading Riku on, but the entire time, it was only he who had been led on. Why would she do something like that to him?

Why?

_This _was why he didn't want to be friends with that bitch! You wanted an answer? You got it, right here. He knew something like this would happen if he became friends with her. He _knew _it. He knew he would fall for her, only for his heart to get broken in the process.

* * *

That Monday, it was as if he and Kairi's friendship had never existed. When Sora was waiting for Kairi to come and pick him up in the morning, she never came. He ended up being late to first period because he always depended on Kairi to come get him. In Mr. Newburn's class, she apologized for not coming to get him. She told him that Riku came by the house to take her to school in his brand new car, even though he was fifteen-years old.

At lunch, Sora had to sit by himself just like old times, because Kairi and Riku were out having lunch in a private room he got for them in celebration of he and Kairi's relationship, and he invited everyone else to come too, but they had forgotten all about Sora. So, he sat by himself, just like before, watching the rest of the students have fun and enjoy each other's company.

Sora went out to his bus stop, but Kairi wasn't there. The likelihood, she was probably out with Riku. Everything Sora had feared had come true, Riku came in and took Kairi away from him. Kairi was probably never going to talk to him again. Now that she had Riku as her official boyfriend, he was not only her boyfriend, but her best guy friend. Riku had become Kairi's best friend, and just as Sora said he would, he took a trip to the back of the bus.

Sora sat on the bench. He was about to say something to someone to his right, but then he remembered that Kairi wasn't even there. Sora held back his tears and turned back the other way. He pulled out something he hadn't used in a while, his beloved music. He hadn't needed his music since he always had someone to talk to.

Once Sora got home, he found Yuffie sitting at the kitchen table, eating something Aerith cooked up for her. He wasn't surprised since Aerith seemed to really like Yuffie when Sora introduced her earlier. She waved at Sora excitedly.

"Hi, Sor!" Yuffie yelled.

Sora put on a weak smile. No matter how miserable he was, Yuffie always found a way to cheer him up, at least a little bit. Sora walked into the kitchen, and sat down next to Yuffie as she sipped the soup Aerith made for her.

"Hi, Sora, how was your day at school?" asked his mother.

"Fine," his usual answer.

Yuffie gave him a concerned look. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Sora said, trying his hardest to pull off a smile.

"You can't lie to me, Sor," Yuffie said while smiling. She was poking at his cheek.

That only made Sora feel worse, because _Kairi _used to always do that to him.

"I'm fine, seriously," Sora said a tiny bit grumpier. Yuffie wasn't affected by it and resumed eating her soup, but Aerith got a little worried. Ever since Sora became friends with Kairi, he had been slowly turning back into his old self, but that slight tone of grumpiness reminded her of the bitter Sora.

"I'm gonna go to sleep," Sora said as he walked upstairs.

Sora went in his room and closed the door. He didn't want to see anybody right now, but he can never get what he wants, can he? Someone knocked on his door.

Sora sighed, "Come in."

"Hey," Roxas said as he entered. He sighed. "I...I heard about Riku and Kairi from Naminé."

Sora's head lowered in shame.

"I'm sorry, man."

"It's not your fault."

"You gonna be okay?"

Sora sighed heavily, and looked up at the ceiling. "Did Naminé say Kairi was happy?"

"She did, as a matter of fact. She told me that Kairi kept talking to her about Riku all night."

"Well," Sora said with another sigh. "If she's happy, then, that's okay. I'll sacrifice my own happiness, if it means Kairi can have hers."

Roxas shook his head with a smile on his face. "You really are always thinking about others before yourself, aren't you?"

"Huh?"

Roxas chuckled. "Sora, you're a great person. If Kairi can't see that, then she's an idiot. It'll be okay."

Sora nodded, still sad by the entire situation as a whole.

"Hey, uh, you wanna go to the park with me, Naminé, and Yuffie? We can go shoot some hoops, maybe get your mind off of Kairi."

Her mere name was killing him. "No, I'd rather just stay inside and be by myself."

"I understand. Get some rest, okay?" Roxas closed the door.

Sora put on a weak smile. He was definitely lucky to have such an awesome brother. But Roxas wasn't enough to help him feel better. Sora got into his sleeping attire and crawled into bed, trying to forget about everything.

It wasn't easy, Kairi was stuck in his head. Why would she do this?

_"Kairi, my uncle...he left me...my aunt did, too...and my father...even he left me," Sora sniffled. "Kairi...why does everyone keep leaving me?"_

_He felt abandoned, the poor thing. "Sora..." was all she could respond._

_Sora collapsed to his knees, and hovered over. He finally began letting out the held back tears from the past seven years. It was a long awaited moment for him. The tears themselves were induced with many emotions, sadness, anger, pain, all jumbled into salty water snippets manifested from his eyes. Kairi was even a little teary-eyed and she hugged over him as he cried. He finally let the tears flow._

_Sora was hysterical, "Why?! Why did he leave me?! Why does everyone keep leaving me, Kairi?! Why does everyone hate me?! Why?!" He was weeping uncontrollably now, and Kairi was never so proud of him before._

_"I don't hate you," Kairi admitted. Even though he was being a jerk, she was far from hating him. If anything, she admired him at this point._

_Sora hugged her back with his head still buried beneath her. "Kairi, please! Please don't leave me! Don't leave me all alone..."_

_"Shh," she said, rubbing his back. "I won't. I promise."_

_"Don't leave me...Don't leave me..." Sora whispered._

_She smiled. He finally trusted her. She could sleep at ease now, knowing that Sora was okay. She didn't know why, but she felt the need to find out what was bothering him, and she had done so. Sora had done so much to avoid her, and in the end, irony did its job. The one person he kept telling himself he hated was the only one there to comfort him, the only one who he felt comfortable around to let out his emotions in front of. Maybe Kairi wasn't as bad as he thought, she was there for him despite all the things he had said to her. She was a true...friend. He had a friend, something he hadn't had in a long time. Kairi didn't care about anything else anymore. She didn't care about the words, the threats, the past. As long as Sora would be okay now, she was okay. Nothing else mattered anymore._

_"I'm not going anywhere." _

Sora was looking at the ceiling, holding back his tears at the unwanted flashback. He gritted his teeth.

She said she wasn't going anywhere, she said she wouldn't leave him. He should have known, he should have known not to get his hopes up. He saw all of this coming the day he first met her. How could he be so stupid?

"You liar..."

* * *

Aww, sad chapter :'(

i dont own Fine China by CB

do i even have to say that? oh well. tell me what u think or what you want/predict will happen in a review! :)


	10. This is the Way It Should Be

Chapter 10

It had been two weeks since the day he let her slip away.

Kairi and Riku had quickly become the school's power couple, most obliviously, since Riku and Kairi were in fact the two most popular students at Strife Academy.

Kairi hadn't been spending much time with Sora lately, but it wasn't on purpose. She was just so busy with Riku and the others that she forgot to hang out with Sora. She didn't go to any of his performances like she said she would, she didn't go back home with him on the bus anymore, none of the group sat with Sora anymore because they were too busy eating lunch in Riku's private room, everything just went back to the way things were before he and Kairi met. Sora couldn't help but ask himself, is this really all for the better? Despite being absolutely miserable, at least Kairi herself had found happiness.

Sora wasn't a complete train wreck however, since Yuffie was constantly coming over Sora's house, as if she truly did in fact, practically live there. Waking up next to Yuffie had almost begun to become a routine. Sora was used to it now. Yuffie was the only person who kept him from completely going down in the dumps, but still, only Kairi has the potential to bring Sora back to his true self.

Sora couldn't contemplate whether or not Kairi despised him, used him, or just didn't want to be associated with him. He wanted to know, but he dared not confront Kairi. Things would just be awkward between them now. He wasn't even sure if Kairi had even remembered him.

At the end of the school day, Sora dragged himself out of class and sat on the bench. He sighed heavily as the sun glistened on his tan face.

"What's wrong?" asked an unfamiliar and squeaky voice.

Sora opened his eyes to see a short, anthropomorphic duck looking at him with a blank face. Sora jumped out of the bench and flipped behind the bench. "Stay away from me!"

"Wak? What's the big idea?!"

"You're a duck! A talking freaking duck!"

"No, you idiot! This is just what my makeup artist did for me! I'm working in a play, just on my break right now."

Sora calmed down and sat back down. "Oh, sorry. It's just _really _convincing, that's all."

The duck waved it off. "No offense taken, kid. Now could ya tell me what's got you in such a dump?"

Sora slumped onto his palm as he stared at the concrete below. "I lost my best friend...there was this girl that I used to hang out with all the time. I wasn't too keen on her at first, but once I warmed up to her daily hassle of me I began to think she wasn't that bad," Sora chuckled, thinking about all the memories he and Kairi made in such a short time. "She...was the only one I liked. She made me feel...like had a heart." (Reference alert)

The duck sweat dropped, boy was this kid a downer. "Listen, kid, you can't go through life being sad." Sora looked up at the duck curiously. "It's not good for you, you'll just get sick and end up feeling sorry for yourself." The duck put on a warm and friendly grin. "Smile! Be happy!"

Another figure walked up and stood next to the duck, he was a hunch back but skinny anthropomorphic dog. "Hey, uh, who is..." the dog said pointing to Sora.

"Just some kid who I thought looked sad, so I thought I'd say something," the duck answered.

"I see, he seems kinda mechamolic," the dog said.

The duck rolled his eyes, it seemed he was used to this. "That's 'melancholic' you twit!"

Sora couldn't help but crack a chuckle. Something about them seemed oddly familiar, as if he had met these two in a past life or alternate reality.

The duck smiled as he heard Sora's chuckle. "There you go!"

"Gawrsh, you do look like you could use some cheering up," the dog said while in deep thought. "Hey! I know, how about we head over to the top of the Station Tower! The sight up there will be enough to get your mind off of whatever it is you're going through."

"That's actually a good idea," the duck admitted.

Sora thought about it. He had nothing better to do, and he could honestly just take the train over to his house from the Station. These two friendly faces seemed okay enough. What's the harm in it?

(References alert ahead)

"Yeah, I guess..." Sora said, still slightly melancholic.

The duck put his hands on his chubby little hips. "But you can't come along looking like that. Understand? No frowning, no sad face, okay?"

The dog hovered down to put his face near the duck's. "Yeah, ya gotta look funny, like us! A-hyuk!"

Slightly annoyed, the duck pushed the dog's face away. "If you wanna tag along, you gotta have a happy face!"

"Happy?" Sora asked.

Sora decided he'd give it a try, it's the least he could do for himself anyway is to try and be a little more happy. Sora stood up and dipped down, the duck and dog looking at him intensely. Sora soon popped up with the goofiest grin he's probably ever made. An awkward silence ensued as the duck and dog stared at Sora.

Sora began to look kind of worried at them. Weren't they going to say something? Before he knew it, the duck and dog busted into hysterical laughter at Sora's weird attempt at a happy face.

"That's one funny face!" the dog cried.

Sora chuckled slightly as well. These guys didn't seem so bad, if anything, they could help him get over the slump he was in. "Okay, why not? I'll go with you guys."

The duck and dog stopped laughing, and the duck gave Sora a warm, sympathetic smile. He put his hand out. "Donald Duck."

The dog put his hand out. "Name's Goofy."

Sora looked kind of awkwardly at them. This seemed rather cheesy, didn't it? Oh well, it was in good-nature. "I'm Sora." Sora put his hand out down as well.

"All for one, and one for all," Goofy said with a smile.

* * *

Meanwhile, Riku and Kairi were walking down the street to head up to the nearest cafe to get something to eat.

"Oh my god, I'm _so _hungry," Kairi said as her stomach growled.

"My, my, such an appetite for such a small girl," Riku teased.

Kairi tapped him on the nose. "Oh, quiet," she teased back. "I just couldn't eat at lunch today. Something's been really bugging me..."

"What's that?"

"I feel like I'm forgetting something important. Or someone...I can't remember who or what, though."

Riku had forgotten all about that something as well. He didn't need to remember that certain thing since it was now out of his way. "Do you remember anything about that certain thing...?"

Kairi stopped. "I don't know what it is, but I know it was something very important to me..."

Riku stopped as well, since his girlfriend decided to.

"It's been hurting really bad, I just don't know what I'm going to do."

"I'm sure it couldn't be something _that _bad, could it?"

Kairi ignored Riku as she continued thinking. "Starts with an 'S'..." (Reference alert)

"It's probably nothing, Kai. Come on, let's go eat. You said you were hungry, right?"

Kairi nodded. Something had been feeling off lately, though. She couldn't shake the feeling of it, either. Someone from her life was missing, and she was feeling awful about it.

In the cafe, Kairi and Riku ordered their food. Riku couldn't help but notice that Kairi seemed a little out of it today. When their food arrived, Kairi hardly touched it. She just stared at it while she was in deep thought. "Starts with an 'S'..." Kairi thought about it long and hard. There was someone who she knew, and cared for that person deeply. To be honest, she liked that person more than Riku if she remembered correctly. But who was it? Wait...she remembered, it was...

"SORA!"

Riku looked at her, confused. "Who's Sora?" he asked. Then the memories came back. "Oh, that loser you used to hang out with all the time."

"He's not a loser!" Kairi spat at him. She then hugged herself, feeling a little sick inside. "Oh my god, I can't believe I forgot about him...I feel like a terrible person..."

"Don't worry about it, Kai, you got me, right?" Riku said with a smirk.

"You think I care about that?!" she asked. She was not in the mood for Riku's arrogance today. "Oh, I need to find Sora, like now."

"Now?"

"NOW!"

Riku was taken aback. Why did she care so much about some loser they didn't even care to remember?

"I have to go!" Kairi said while running out. "I'll call you later!

* * *

Sora, Donald, and Goofy were all sitting on the Station Tower watching the sunset. They were all licking on sea-salt ice cream bars, and for some reason, they felt very comfortable in each other's presence. Like they had been like this for a long time.

"This is nice, isn't it?" Sora said, his smile shining from the light of the sun.

"It sure is, A-hyuk," Goofy agreed.

Donald took a look at Sora, which Sora began to notice and made him slightly uncomfortable. "What's the matter?" Sora asked.

"Are you...are you sure we haven't met before?" Donald asked with a hand to his chin.

Sora looked back into his memories. "Positive. Why do you ask?"

Donald shook his head and smiled. "I dunno." Sora returned the smile.

The three began eating ice cream again. "So, what play are you guys in?" Sora decided to ask.

"It's a play about a feller who travels to a whole bunch of worlds to keep the darkness from spreading. We play as the boy's two companions," Goofy answered.

"Sounds interesting..." Sora admitted.

"You know what's weird, me and Goofy's names are the exact same names of the character's we play, and have similar personalities."

"That _is _weird," Sora agreed, licking on his delicious ice cream bar.

"Hey, about that friend of yours, I was wondering...did you like her?" Donald asked.

"Define 'like'," Sora requested.

"As in, romantically."

Sora breathed in real deep, but decided to maintain his composure. He wasn't in the mood to cry right now. "Yeah. Yeah, I did."

"I see..." Donald said. Goofy felt bad for Sora. Just hearing him say that felt bad.

"She was the most beautiful girl you could ever imagine. Her laugh, her presence...her smile. It's all haunting me."

"Hm..."

"And the day I found out I liked her, was the day I lost her...I told myself when I met her, that this would happen. I knew if I allowed her to hang around me, I was going to end up hurting in the long run...I knew it, but she wouldn't go away. No matter all the mean things I said to her, or all the times I'd ignore her or give her the cold shoulder, she wouldn't leave me alone. So I gave up, and decided I'd let her hang around me for the time being..."

"What happened after that?" asked Goofy.

"She...she was the best friend I could ever imagine. In such a short time, she became my sister. It was weird, but it was so true. I guess, feelings grew, whether I didn't realize them or ignored them, I don't know, but they were there. Me and her, it seemed as if we were inseparable, but of course, everything happens for a reason. She ended up falling for the biggest ego trip in the school, and she went and forgot all about me. I fell into her trap, I knew it would happen. So why didn't I stop it? Why was I such an idiot?!"

Goofy patted Sora on the back, giving him a sympathetic and understanding expression on his face.

"Sorry, I got a little carried away..." Sora apologized.

"It's okay," Goofy responded.

"Boy, I'm really sorry, Sora. I didn't know..." Donald said, looking guilty for making Sora tell the story that was obviously painful for him.

Sora looked at the sun. "It's okay..."

And then, Sora's phone rang. Sora, not even bothering to look at the Caller I.D, answered it. "Hello?"

"Hi..." said a hesitant voice.

"Kairi?"

"Yeah, it's me. Look, Sora, I wanted to meet you. Can you come by the Station?"

Sora was beginning to look around. "I'm already here."

"Oh, well uh, where are you?"

"At the top of the tower..."

"Be right up." Kairi hung the phone.

Sora looked melancholic as he stared at the ground. "That was the friend I was telling you about. She's heading on up."

Donald and Goofy exchanged looks.

"Do you want us to leave?" asked Donald.

Sora gave him a crack of a smile, as if trying to politely say 'yes'. But Donald and Goofy weren't offended, they knew it was nothing personal.

"We understand. I sure do hope things work out between you and yer friend," Goofy said as he stood up.

"Me too," Sora responded.

"We'll see you around," Donald said as he and Goofy went down the stairs to leave the station. Sora sighed as he closed his eyes. He felt the breeze compliment his face and hair. Soon enough, he smelt a familiar fragrance, and found that Kairi was sitting next to him, looking out at the sky.

"Hey," was the first thing she said. Sora ignored her. Serves her right. "So, what have you been up to?"

Sora didn't say anything. He seriously wanted to just leave, but he knew good and well that running away from his problems wasn't healthy, so he had a chance to confront it, and he was going to take it. Well, sort of. Ignoring her was him giving her a taste of her own medicine.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "It just occurred to me, we haven't been spending that much time together, have we?" Sora rolled his eyes, seeing as that was a dumb observation. "I was so caught up in spending time with Riku, I just sort of forgot about anything else. But I'll make it up to you, I swear, we can hang out all the time, just like before."

Sora clenched his fists. If only she knew how bad she was really hurting him. "You wanna know why I didn't want to be friends with you when we first met, Kairi?"

She was getting a little interested. "Why?"

"_This _is why. Everything that's happened, that's why."

"What do you mean?"

Sora scowled at her. "Are you a fucking idiot?! I knew that if I were to be friends with you, you'd end up tossing me aside for the latest greatest in a heartbeat! That's why I ignored you, that's why I tried getting you away from me, that's why I _hated _you!"

Kairi was shocked and hurt by his sudden outburst. "Sora..."

"You left me for him, Kai! You didn't give a crap about my feelings! Do you know that I've had to sit at an empty table for the past two weeks? That I've been going home by myself?! I knew you would do this to me, Kai! I knew you would mess me up like this!" Sora calmed himself down a bit. "The only friend I have now...is Yuffie. If it weren't for her..."

Next thing Sora knew, Kairi was giving him a hug. Sora felt like he hadn't felt her touch in so long, it was almost foreign. But it felt good, but he dared not hug her back. Not after what she did.

"I'm sorry...I'm so, so sorry, Sora..." Kairi looked into his eyes. "I just want you to know, that no one can ever replace you. You will always be my best friend, and the most important person to me-"

"Don't give me that bullshit!" Sora interrupted. "Oh, sure, _now _I'm the most important person to you, after you finally fucking remembered that I exist! You don't care about me, you just feel sorry for me!" Sora broke out of her hold. "And get the fuck off of me!"

"You asshole," Kairi spat back. "You think I don't care about you?! You think I just left you in the dust on purpose? Sora, you're one of the best people I've ever met! But of course I would be in a trance after getting a boyfriend, who wouldn't? When somebody gets into a relationship, during the first few phases of it, you can't help but only think about that one person, it's almost like poisoning. But did you know that I've been miserable these past two weeks?!"

Sora looked at her shocked.

"That's right, I've been miserable! I was so caught up with Riku, that I ended up forgetting to spend time with you, right? So here's the thing, I was _miserable. _I didn't know why either. When I was at home, all I could think was that something was missing in my life. I would only use Riku for comfort! I'm not proud of it, but that's how it was...and you know what, I realized that the thing that was missing was _you_, you idiot! You're my _best _friend!"

Sora was stunned, he didn't know what to say, or what to feel. Should he be happy? He just found out that Kairi had been subconsciously missing him all along. Sora's anger had faded, only uncertainty remained.

"Yeah, well..." was the only thing Sora could say in response. "You're still a bitch," he said, cracking a slight smile.

Kairi smiled at him as well, feeling relieved. "And you're an asshole." Kairi put a hand on his shoulder. "So, do you forgive me?"

Sora didn't know what to do. Forgiving her seems like it would get her off the hook too easily. "I don't know..." Sora answered.

Kairi was a little disappointed in that answer, but she understood. Hell, she probably wouldn't forgive herself either.

"Can I ask you something?" Sora asked.

"Sure," Kairi responded, beginning to kick out her dangling feet.

"Do you really like Riku? Are you happy with him?"

Kairi had an unreadable expression on her face. The kind of look where you can't really tell what she's thinking. "To be honest...I think I'm just using him."

"Huh?"

"I like Riku. I like him, a lot. The first few days we were officially together, I was infatuated with him, but that was about as far as it went. But then I think I was fooling myself, because now that I actually think about it..." Kairi looked at the sky. "I really don't like Riku, at least not in that way."

"Then why are you going out with him?"

"Because I was tired of waiting for you."

Sora's eyes widen. He blinked a few times.

What...

What the hell did she just say?

Was she implying something?

Damn it, girl! Why must you do this to him?

"Waiting...for what?"

Kairi gave him a smile. "You're so stupid. Can you honestly not tell?"

Sora looked away stubbornly. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Kairi rolled her eyes. "Sora...I love you."

Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!

Wait, wait, wait, 'I love you' could mean anything. She's told him that she loved him before, but it was just as like a best friend 'love' sort of thing. No way could she mean it romantically.

"Define 'love'."

"What do you mean define it? I love you. As in, I _love_ you."

"Like, brotherly sisterly love, or best friend love, or-"

"As in, I'm _in-love_ with you. Romantically. I want to be with you."

He was dreaming right? This was totally a dream. No way could she love him back, there's no way. She loved Riku, right? Yeah, she loved Riku, not Sora. This was all just a cruel joke, right? Right? HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! IT'S NOT FUCKING FUNNY!

Sora's head started spinning, so he was grieving over the past two weeks for absolutely nothing?

"No way..." was all he could say.

"Yeah, it's true. I mean, come on, I may have denied it at the time, but you hit the nail on the head whenever you accused me of being jealous of Yuffie. Why would I want her grimy hands all over you? I loved you way before I even gave Riku a second thought, Sora. I was never jealous when he had fan girls swarming around him, but with you, it's different."

"I...I don't even know what the fuck I'm supposed to say..."

Kairi smiled at him. "Tell me how you feel about me...do you feel the same? That's all I need to know..."

Sora looked at the sky, and for the first time in two weeks, he smiled. Not a fake smile, a _real _smile in which he genuinely felt something for.

"You want the simple answer?" Sora asked, Kairi looking at him intensely. "Then...yeah. Why do you think I was hurt so bad? Of course I love you, Kai."

Kairi turned his face to hers. "Then why didn't you say anything sooner? We could have avoided this entire mess from the beginning. You and I would be together, not me and Riku."

"I don't know...I guess I really am just an idiot."

She got up real close to his face, looking almost...seductive? "But that's why I love you." And she kissed him.

Sora eventually kissed back after getting his head out of the clouds. It went from a simple kiss, to a serious kiss, and in the end, they just ended up making out with passion and _slight _lust, but they knew better than to get nasty on top of the Station Tower. They both had wanted this for a while now, even if they tried to deny to themselves before that they didn't. They were in complete heaven.

Kairi had fireworks exploding inside of her. Sora was an even _better _kisser than Riku.

Funny thing was, this was Sora's first kiss, how lucky of him to have his first kiss with a gorgeous girl. He must have had a natural talent for kissing. Sora was enjoying it just as much as Kairi. Her lips tasted like cherry-flavored candy, and her tongue continuously entered his mouth, but he didn't mind at all, in fact, he returned the favor.

Kairi and Riku _never _kissed as hot as this, as of matter of fact, the only time she and Riku ever kissed was the night they got together. It made Kairi feel bad for using Riku to try and forget about Sora. But she thought that Sora didn't feel the same, so why should she have even kept fooling herself? Being with Riku put those thoughts aside, and she didn't have to feel the pain. But now they were here, expressing their love and passion for each other. It felt like such an awaited moment.

They pulled apart, not really wanting to, but they needed time to breathe. After catching their breaths they looked at each other, giving the other a smile.

"That was...amazing..." Kairi said.

"I know..." Sora agreed.

"You're an even better kisser than Riku!"

Sora was feeling real good about himself now. Suck it, Riku! He can kiss way better than you on his first try! Kairi cuddled into him, and he held her back. Sora noticed the look in Kairi's eye, it was the same twinkle she had in her eye when she first got together with Riku, but this time she seemed more genuine.

"You don't know how much I've been wanting this...it's like a dream..." Kairi said. "Just being here with you makes me a hundred times more happier than when I was with Riku," Kairi gave him an enthusiastic smile. She gave him a big hug. "Oh, Sora! You don't know how much this means to me, to know that you feel the same way! I was honestly getting worried...that's why I went out with Riku, Sora. Because I thought you would never feel the same way. But you do, and it's just...ugh, oh my god! I'm so happy!"

Sora felt so giddy inside, he could barely hold it back. She loved him! She really did, way more than Riku, if he may add.

"Kairi, I love you just as much, but I can't get something out of my mind...now what do we do?" asked Sora awkwardly.

Good question. Kairi honestly wanted to just dump Riku and go be with Sora, but was that really right? To just dump him like that for someone else? She wanted to be happy, but she didn't want to hurt anyone else's feelings. "I don't know..."

"I wish there was some way we could get Riku to fall for someone else, then you and me could be together, no sweat. It would be terrible for him if you broke up with him just to be with someone else."

Kairi smiled. "You're still thinking about Riku's feelings, even though he stole me away from you? After he threatened you?"

Sora blushed. Perhaps he was too nice.

"Sora, I love you so much. Seriously, I do."

Sora rubbed his nose, it was his trademark for whenever he was embarrassed. Kairi giggled. Then she started thinking about what they could do.

"Let's see...do you wanna just go out secretly? I basically just cheated on Riku anyway..."

"But that's not right. That's so dishonest. I know that if _I _found out a girl did that to me, lying in my face like that, it would make me want to nearly kill myself."

"Yeah, that's true..."

They were running out of options. What more could they do? Neither of them wanted to hurt Riku, but neither of them wanted Riku to get in their way.

"I guess, we'll just have to wait a little longer..." Kairi admitted.

"This sucks..." Sora said while resting his chin on his palm. "It's all my fault, I should have just told you how I felt a while ago, then none of this would have happened."

"No, I'm at fault too. I shouldn't have accepted Riku's date just to make you jealous."

"Oh, right...forgot about that, it _is _your fault," Sora teased with a smirk on his face. She playfully hit him on the shoulder.

"Hey, when did you first start having feelings for me?" asked Kairi. "I want to know..."

Sora thought back into his memories. "The first time I started truly considering that I might actually like you was about a month ago, when I told you about my past the day you found out about my job. You kissed me on the cheek, remember?"

Kairi giggled. "That's right, I remember."

"Now you tell me when you started liking me."

"Honestly, I started liking you around when I first saw you play basketball, and you saved me from that guy..."

"Oh yeah, Xigbar."

"But when I first started _really _liking you was when I first saw you perform. You are so hot when you're on stage, seriously."

"So we both started having feelings for each other around the same time, huh?" Sora chuckled. "It's too bad we can't just be with each other, though. Now we have to wait for Riku to grow bored of you or something, and who knows how long that'll take..."

Kairi nodded. But she gave him another smile. "Wanna make out one more time then?"

"I was thinking the same thing..."

And they did it again. They kissed each other with so much passion, so much love, it was hardly bearable.

...

After many moments of making out, the two finally broke apart and looked up into the sky, realizing it was dark out.

"Damn, what time is it?" Kairi asked.

Sora looked at his phone, a goofy smile on his face. He was love struck. "7:34."

"Whoa, we've been kissing for four hours!" Kairi said with shock.

"I know..." Sora said. The melancholy and sadness he once had had disappeared. Even though he and Kairi weren't together, they at least became friends again. And they knew that one day they would be together, when the time was right. Sora now regretted to having ever doubted his feelings before, if he had just told her, things would be a lot different right now.

"This is terrible. We can't even be together..." Kairi brought up.

"I know..." Sora agreed. "Where do we go from here?"

"Well, one day we really will be together, I promise. Nothing else in the world would make me happier, but it just seems that it isn't in either of us to hurt Riku. When the day comes, I know we'll be happy with each other. But until that day comes..." she gave Sora a warm smile. "You want to just stick to being friends?"

Being friends with Kairi would be a break of fresh air. Not being able to be with Kairi at the moment was bad, but not having her in his life at all was worse. Besides, he just found out that she loved him way more than she ever did Riku. That alone was enough to get him to sleep at night.

"Of course we can still be friends," answered Sora.

"Best friends?"

"Best friends."

Kairi gave Sora a warm smile. "I have something to give you." She went into her pocket and pulled something out, it was a star-shaped charm woven out of thalassa shells, drawn on it was a simple sketch of Sora's determined face. "Have you ever heard about the legend of the paopu fruit?"

Sora shook his head.

"Well, back when I was homeless as a little kid, me, Nam, and Axel stayed at Destiny City, and there was this Island I used to always play at. Me, Naminé, and Riku would go there all the time as kids, and we would always sit by this tree that had a bunch of paopu fruit on it. The legend says that if two people share one, their destinies become intertwined, and they'll remain apart of each other's lives, no matter what."

"So, what? Did you want to share a paopu fruit?"

"Can't. Destiny Islands is a long train ride from here. But there is something else...they say if you have a good luck charm shaped like it, the connection of the paopu fruit maintains, and you'll have an unbreakable connection. I made this good luck charm when I was four years old, and I was saving it for that one special someone. You're that special someone, Sora. I want you to hold onto it, so that if you have a bad day or something, you won't forget about me, and our friendship."

Kairi handed Sora the good luck charm. Sora looked at it, already cherishing it. He was flattered that Kairi would give him a trinket so special to her like this. He held it to his heart. "Thanks, Kai."

Kairi gave him a playfully scolding look, "It's my lucky charm, be sure to not lose it."

"Don't worry, I won't."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Kairi smiled at him. "I have one more thing for you." Kairi went into her backpack and took out a necklace that had a crown at the end of it. Sora looked almost mesmerized by it as she handed it to him. "I picked this up for you on the way here. Just my way of apologizing for forgetting about you these past two weeks."

"Kairi...I saw this thing in the store not too long ago, and I wanted it so badly, but I couldn't afford it. How did you know I wanted this?"

Kairi's eyes widened. "I didn't! I just picked it out and thought you'd really like it."

Sora wrapped his arms around Kairi. "You're the best, Kai." She hugged him back. "I was beginning to doubt you, you know? You said you wouldn't leave me, and I thought you truly had. But you haven't...I should have put more faith in you."

"Don't sweat it," Kairi responded.

Sora and Kai broke apart. She placed her hand on his. "Don't ever forget, wherever you go, I'm always with you."

* * *

Yeah, I was going to say reference alert for that last line but I figured it would have just ruined the moment I was trying to create.

I hope you like this chap, leave a review. I would like to say sorry to SiChri about that last chapter. I had no intention of making you relive a past experience :( I felt bad when I read that. I hope this chap did a little something to cheer you up!

You too, Sweeney1999 ;)


	11. An Enemy's Perseverance

Chapter 11

Mind blank. Everything's dark...

Everything seems like it doesn't feel real anymore.

The darkness.

Cold.

Why is everything cold? Perhaps this is what the world of incredulous circumstances premise, perhaps this is where dreams unfold...

Perhaps...

"Sora!"

"WAAGGGHH!" Sora cried. He opened his eyes, and realized he had fallen asleep in eighth period. He noticed a girl in front of him, but she was blurry. She had on a white shirt that was buttoned up, the sleeves rolled up, a blue tie caressing the neck, and she had a blue plaid skirt. She seemed familiar...who was she?

Once the blurriness faded, he noticed it was Kairi, giving him a concerned look.

"Come on, you lazy bum, wake up." (Reference alert.)

The memories flooded back in Sora's brain. He had the strangest dream, he didn't even know what it meant, but he wished it could of gone on for a bit longer. Damn it, Kairi! Sora drowsily stood up and picked up his bag.

Kairi rolled her eyes. "You always fall asleep in class. You're such an idiot."

"Sue me."

Kairi shrugged it off and the two best friends began walking off to their bus stop. Kairi's phone received a text. Take a wild guess who it was:

_You have received a text message: _

_Kairi, Let's Go To The Park Today Since School's Out_

_Riku _

Why did he freaking 'Upper Case The First Letter Of Every Word'? Ugh, this was starting to become routine. Kairi was getting very annoyed with Riku, since it seemed like he thought that since Kairi was his girlfriend, she had to hang out with him _every _day. She'd much rather just go home with Sora, to be quite honest, but Riku was just so clingy. Wasn't this relationship reversed?

Kairi groaned.

"Riku?" Sora asked.

"What do you think?"

"Man, talk about desperate."

"I know, I really wish he didn't call me all the time and repeatedly say 'I love you' like a little pushover." She replied with a text that said she was busy, even though she really wasn't. Kairi had grown sick of Riku. It had been about a week since Sora and Kairi confessed to each other. Neither of them knew what would happen next, but it turned out that things went back to normal. With a snap of the finger, Sora and Kairi were best friends again, just like that. Only now they had the knowledge of each other's feelings for one other. In result, they were even closer than before.

Sora held onto the good luck charm Kairi gave him, and he had been wearing the crown necklace everyday as well. He loved it, not as much as he did Kairi, but still, it was a great treasure for him to withhold. He needed to think of something to give Kairi, anyway. It only seemed fair. But what? He didn't really know.

Kairi's infatuation with Riku had went and disappeared. Riku was just too clingy and nosy, not to mention the fact he had been bad-mouthing Sora behind the boy's back ever since she and Sora reconciled their friendship. Kairi gave Riku the cold shoulder every time he said one thing remotely bad about Sora, because in all honestly, Sora was a way better person than him anyway.

That's why she fell for him, not his good looks or dancing ability, it was his kind nature. She wanted everyone to see how good of a person Sora truly was, including Sora himself, but that task seemed a bit too complicated, and how would that be accomplished anyhow? Only time would tell.

Kairi managed to get Sora reacquainted with the rest of the gang as well, meaning Selphie, Hayner, Tidus, Wakka, Pence, and Olette. They too, had forgot about Sora unintentionally and were desperately sorry about it. Sora was flattered to have been liked so much, but he wasn't used to it. It used to be that nobody ever gave a crap about him. That all changed once he met Kairi. Sora noticed he was starting to get strange looks from Selphie and Olette too, but he didn't pay it any attention.

Lately, Sora, Kairi, Yuffie, Roxas, and Naminé would always hang together at Paopu's Pallet everyday. They all ended up having an unbreakable bond that none of them saw coming. They were like a big happy family. Roxas wasn't too keen on Kairi when she first started hanging out with them again, but once she explained herself, Roxas forgave her. If Sora could, then so would he.

Kairi and Sora walked past a poster on the school bulletin board, and Kairi stopped in her tracks once she actually read it. She walked up to the poster and began reading it. Sora stopped once he noticed his beautiful auburn companion wasn't walking beside him. Sora turned around to see Kairi reading something on the board. "Hey, bitch, what are you doing?"

Kairi ignored Sora's insult and continued reading. Soon, a big smile appeared on her face. She gestured Sora to come over. "Sora, over here!"

Sora groaned as he walked next to her. "Kairi, can't we just go? This place reeks of education."

"Hush! Now read that," Kairi said while pointing to the advertisement on the board.

"Strife Academy presents the Twilight Town Music Challenge. Each week a set of talented young musicians will perform songs, may they be from mainstream artists or original compositions, with the challenge set by the judges. The winner will receive a 5000 munny reward," Sora read.

"Isn't it perfect? You should enter the competition! You'd win it for sure!"

"Not interested," Sora said while walking off.

Kairi looked dumbfounded. Once she stepped out of her trance, she caught up to Sora. "What do you mean 'not interested'," she mocked in a deep voice to represent Sora. "I thought you loved performing in front of people."

"Yeah, at the Pallet. Not at school. Not in a million years."

"Like, why?"

"Because performing in front of adults and performing in front of teenagers can be two totally different worlds. Teenagers our age are so judgmental, and if I screw up, it's over for me at this school."

"Who cares what these idiots think? At least you'll be doing something you _claim _to have passion for!"

"I do have passion for it, it's just...I don't know. All I know is that I don't want to do it. Besides, that competition is months from now, we need to be thinking of other things, like what we're going to do for Halloween."

Even though Sora tried changing the subject, she let it go and let him get away with it for now. "You know about Selphie's party, right? It's this Saturday, and she said it was going to be her Halloween-themed party. I wonder if it's going to be as wild as her birthday party was..."

Selphie had her birthday party the week before. It was wild since Hayner brought the alcohol he promised.

"Am I invited?"

"Of course you are. I told Selph that I wasn't going to go unless you came too. Besides, she doesn't seem to hate you anymore."

"Yeah, I know, but she keeps giving me these strange looks. It's really weird." Kairi smirked at him. "What are you sneering at?"

"I think she likes you," Kairi sang.

"Please."

"I think she finally realized how sexy you really are."

"Stop saying that kind of stuff, will you? It's humiliating..."

Kairi rolled her eyes playfully. "Drama queen..."

"I doubt Selphie likes me, Kairi."

"I bet she does."

"You seriously wanna bet?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Fine, I'll go ahead and ask Selphie out on a date tonight," Sora said with a smirk.

Kairi looked at him with wide eyes and hit him on the arm. "Oh, no you're not!"

Sora laughed. "Chill, Kai, I was just kidding."

"You better be."

"Jealous?"

"As always."

"Glad that you can finally admit it without trying to cover up anything."

"Well, it would be stupid to tell you I wasn't jealous when I already told you I have a crush on you. If you want to be on Kairi Lockhart's level, think logically, Mr. Hikari."

"You and logic don't belong in the same sentence."

They found themselves outside of the Academy and placed themselves on the bench, idly waiting for the bus to arrive. Before that could even happen, Sora couldn't help but notice a girl over on the corner of the street. She had raven hair that was cut low and she was hovered over, as if she were crying.

Sora stood up to get a better look. Kairi noticed and decided to find whatever it was Sora was looking at. Soon, she too spotted the raven haired girl.

"Is that..." Kairi began.

"Yuffie?" Sora finished. Sora and Kairi exchanged worried looks. They found themselves running up to the girl, seemingly Yuffie, who was clad in a dirty black trench coat. Sora knelled down, his face exerting concern. "Yuffie, is that you?"

The girl looked up at Sora, tears in her eyes. She resembled Yuffie, but she seemed slightly younger than their hyperactive friend. Plus, she had on a trench coat, in which Yuffie wouldn't be caught dead wearing. This was no Yuffie, but the favoring was there. "Who...who are you?" the girl asked slightly frightened. Her voice sounded very timid.

"My name is Sora." Sora pointed to the red head behind him. "This here is Kairi." Kairi gave her a wave with a sympathetic smile. "Why are you crying?"

The girl began rocking back and forth. "Mind blank, everything's blank...the darkness, cold. Why is everything cold?"

Those words sounded all too familiar. Yes, that's right, they were the words he heard while he was asleep, was it foreshadowing this moment for him? Sora and Kairi exchanged worried looks, since the girl gave such a vague answer. Soon, the girl began twitching all over, her eyes watery wide, she looked scared combined with a dose of insanity.

Soon, her face turned hysterical as the tears began pouring out of her eyes, and she laid on her side. "I'm alone! All alone! I'm alone! I'm alone! I'm alone! I'm alone! I'm alone! Why am I alone? Why am I alone?"

Sora and Kairi were _really _worried now. They began calling out to the bystanders. "Is there a doctor around here?" asked Kairi.

"This girl needs help!"

The girl looked up at the boy who was trying to help her. His face stared at her with concerned blue orbs, and he started to become blurry.

"Don't worry, we'll get you some help, okay?" The boy's voice sounded faded. She passed out.

* * *

Cell Number 14

A psychologist closed the door, giving Sora and Kairi a slightly melancholic yet optimistic look.

"Doctor, is she going to be okay?" asked Kairi.

"She should be. From the looks of it, it seems that she's suffered a traumatic event in her life, and she ended up hyperventilating. She should be fine, she just needs to start having regular treatment."

"Do you mind if we go in and speak to her?" asked Sora.

The psychologist messed with his rectangular glasses. "I don't know about that, son. She may not be ready to come into contact with others yet."

"Lemme give it a try, doc. I'm sure that I can talk to her, maybe find out what happened to her."

Kairi nodded. "Yeah, if anyone can do it, it's definitely Sora here."

The doctor sighed, but then gave them an honest enough smile. "Fine, you win. Just, try not to scare her. She seems to be real sensitive."

"I'll do my best. Come on, Kai." Sora walked inside the cell with his auburn haired companion following close behind. They came inside to find the girl in the corner, her eyes wide but dry. She seemed freaked out of her mind, and she didn't acknowledge Sora and Kairi's presence.

The two friends looked kind of awkwardly at each other. Sora took the first initiative, he began walking slowly towards the girl, being careful not to frighten her. "Hey, um, hi..."

She didn't respond. It seemed like she wasn't paying any attention to him.

"Um, are you okay?" he asked.

She then looked up at the boy who was attempting conversation with her and looked slightly frightened. "Who are you?"

"Relax," Sora said with his hands in the air. He told her who he was earlier, but she must have forgotten. He couldn't blame her, though. She seemed to have gone through something pretty rough. "My name is Sora, over there, that's my best friend, Kairi."

The girl nodded, but then resumed looking into space with wide eyes. Sora rubbed the back of his head and looked back at Kairi for help. Kairi shrugged, what the hell was she supposed to do? Sora rolled his eyes at Kairi's uselessness and began to take a chair near him, spinning it and sat in it backwards. "So," he began. "What's your name?" She slowly turned her head to him. She looked at his eyes, they were friendly and welcoming. She had never seen such focused, concerned eyes in her life.

There was something trustworthy about this boy, perhaps it wouldn't be any harm in telling him her name. "Xion."

"That's a pretty name," Sora smiled. "So, what was that all about out there? Why were you crying?"

Kairi, beginning to feel more comfortable, walked up next to Sora and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, giving this girl, apparently named Xion, a reassuring look. "You can trust us."

Xion looked at the two friendly teenagers with a shocked expression. Why did these total strangers seem to care about her? Since when was such kindness in the world brought to fruition? It seemed almost unreal. She gave the two a small smile, although her lips were quivering.

"You two are really good-looking."

Sora and Kairi shared a glance and smiled. They appreciated the compliment, even though it didn't answer the question. They decided to leave it at that. Obviously, the girl wasn't ready to open up, which they understood. Sora and Kairi knew better than anyone that trust needed to be developed before releasing private information to others. Their entire friendship was a testimony to that.

Sora gave Xion a nod. "Thank you. I guess you don't want to let up, huh?"

Xion gave a look, as if politely trying to say yes.

"I understand. Just remember, don't keep your feelings bottled up inside, it's not good for you."

Kairi rolled her eyes, a smile on her face. "That is so like you, Sora."

"What are you babbling about now?"

"Don't keep your feelings bottled up inside," she mocked. "You know you got those words from me."

"Yeah, and I made them sound a hundred times better," he joked back. "I got a knack for making the corny sound admirable."

"Sure you do," she sarcastically remarked.

Sora got out of his chair and pretended to get offended. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Xion let a slight giggle, which caught the attention of the two.

"And what are you laughing at, Missy?" asked Kairi.

"Are you guys like boyfriend and girlfriend?" asked the raven-haired girl.

It was funny how often they were asked that question. Sora let out a small sigh with a small smile. "No. We wish, though."

"Hm?" Xion asked.

Sora pointed to his redhead companion with his thumb. "We really like each other, but Miss Bi-" Sora stopped himself. He was going to call her a bitch, his usual nickname for her, but he found that inappropriate for the current situation. "idiot over here, went and got herself a different boyfriend."

Xion gave Kairi an accusing glare.

"Don't look at me like that! I don't even like my boyfriend."

Xion kept her accusing glare, confused as ever. If these two openly liked each other, what was stopping them? Her look telepathically asked 'then why are you with him?'.

"I don't want him to be upset," Kairi replied melancholic.

Sora sat back down in the chair, this time, the right way. "Who knows how crazy her boyfriend would get if she dumped him for me. Hell, my safety could be in danger. Her boyfriend is a nutcase."

Kairi hit Sora on the arm. "Don't talk about him like that. He may be an egotistical, self-absorbing, overbearing, overwhelming, selfish...what was I talking about?"

Sora raised a brow at her. "The optimistic side of him."

"Oh, yeah. Riku's honestly not as bad as he's acting. He's just putting on a front."

"Hm..." Kairi was always saying that about her friends, but Sora was curious. After all, out of everybody, Kairi knew Riku better than anyone. Perhaps under that ego trip was a sincere and genuine creature, but trying to understand the spoiled rotten walking train wreck known as _Riku _was just something Sora didn't feel the need to delve into. The next thing he knew, Kairi was sitting on his lap. Isn't this the story of his life? "Hey!"

Kairi winked at him. "There's no where else to sit. Besides, quit pretending you don't like it," she said in reference to the last time she sat on his lap.

It was true, he did like it. But why? Why is the partially intimate recession of having another's buttocks rest on one's lap so comforting? Who cares, it felt good. "True, but you could at least give me some warning...or _ask._" Kairi only giggled.

Xion was looking at the two with a smile. "You two are weird."

Kairi smiled at her, but Sora gave a 'oh really' kind of look. _Says the girl who got thrown into a mental institution, _he thought. But he decided to keep the potentially harsh comment to himself and offered a smile of his own as he held onto Kairi. He could only begin to think how Riku would literally _kill _him right now if he saw the position he and the silver-haired boy's apparent girlfriend were in. He didn't want to have Kairi cheat on Riku, but something was just so satisfying about knowing that his worst enemy's girl is into Sora, and not the self-proclaimed boyfriend Riku himself.

Xion looked at them as they laughed. They seemed so happy, especially in each others presence. Xion wondered if she herself could be that happy one day, but the situation she was in now, it seem like that day wouldn't be coming any time soon.

"My parents died."

Sora and Kairi stopped giggling and chuckling once Xion said that.

"That's why I was crying...my parents were killed."

Sora and Kairi could relate to stories about one's parents. They knew good and well what it was like to lose some.

"Who...who killed them?" asked Kairi.

"All I know that it was some local murderer. I don't know any more than that...I was at home when it happened. Everything seemed to be fine before that, my life had almost no flaws...then, the man knocked on my door...and he told me what happened. I couldn't take it and ran all the way over by Strife Academy, and I just broke down..."

Why was she telling them this? She didn't know. She felt almost as if she could trust the two kind souls before her. They had a warm and welcoming presence. She felt slightly better with the secret out in the open, but now that the cat was out of the bag, the memories swam within the air, so did the pain. Her eyes began to glisten.

Kairi got off of Sora's lap and walked up to Xion, rubbing her back, Sora doing the same.

"It's going to be okay," Kairi comforted.

Xion cried into Kairi as the auburn-haired girl hugged her back. Sora clenched his fist. So there was a murderer out on the scene killing innocent victims for who knows what reason? Anger rose inside of him. He felt the need to do something, he had to protect those he cared about. What if the murderer ended up coming after Kairi, Aerith, Yuffie, or Roxas? It seemed somewhat unlikely, but life can be funny sometimes, and the least expected becomes the most likely. But what could one fifteen year old boy do? He needed to know.

* * *

After calming Xion down, Sora and Kairi decided to leave. It was getting late and they both had piles of homework for this weekend. They found out that Xion was fourteen years old, and they promised to come visit as often as they could to check up on the poor girl.

On the way back, Kairi couldn't help but notice Sora seemed to be in space. "You okay?" she asked, poking his cheek, which pulled him out of his thoughts. Sora was starting to get used to that.

"There's a murderer out there...what if what Xion is going through will happen to me or you? What if the murderer ends up killing you, Kairi? Or my mother? What then? Not to mention all of the innocent lives at risk..."

"I know that look in your eye, Sora, please don't do anything crazy. If you end up getting hurt, I'll never forgive you."

"I won't," Sora lied.

That night, Sora couldn't sleep. A murderer...

A damn murderer is hanging around Twilight Town. He felt that something needed to be done. But what _could _be done? Something, that's what. If something were to happen to anybody, Sora would blame himself in a heartbeat. What Xion was going through, it was true pain. He didn't want to feel that pain, he had enough of pain. Pain wasn't suitable.

Pain was not good.

He had to protect those he loved. If he didn't, who knows what would happen? Not just to Sora and his family, but to the Town itself. Something had to be done. Yes...something. Sora had to find the murderer and put a stop to him, he'd do it...for Kairi, for his mother, for Yuffie...for Xion.

For what the bastard did to Xion alone ignited the fire within Sora, the anger he felt, to see Xion's tears. He hated seeing Xion's tears, he hated seeing people cry. This guy had to pay...

Of course, going at it alone would be suicidal. He needed some help, but who would be crazy enough to help him go and find a murderer?

"HIII!" Yuffie busted into the door.

Sora popped up and looked at her, slightly frightened by the abrupt entrance. "Yuffie? What are you doing here?"

"I'm spending the night here! I asked your mom if it would be okay, and she said yes! Isn't that great?"

Sora calmed down and gave her a smirk. "Sure, I guess, even though it's not like you don't come here all the time anyway..." Looks like Sora's prayers had been answered.

Yuffie began walking up to Sora with a frown on her face. "Hey, don't tell me your going to sleep now...it's Friday and I just got here!"

"No, sleep was the last thing on my mind. As a matter of fact, Yuff, you think you can help me out with something?"

* * *

"Mmm..." Kairi was fast asleep. Sora couldn't help but notice how pretty she was, even when she slept. She was such a beautiful creature, inside and out. She was always helping others, being kind to everyone, talented, funny, he had a whole list.

Sora had snuck into her window, ready to say his goodbye to her just in case something happened to him. He tapped on her shoulder, and she slowly awoken to a spiky-haired companion of hers, giving her a sad smile.

"Hey."

Kairi put on a smile with half-shut eyes. "Hey..." Sora sat on her bed as she sat up and began rubbing her eyes. Looks like all she had on was a white tank top and some pink short shorts. "What's going on? And how the hell did you get in my room?"

"Window."

"Jeez, who do you think you are, Yuffie?"

Sora chuckled, but his face soon turned serious again.

"Ruh-roh, what's wrong?"

Sora clenched his fists. Should he really tell her? She would be worried sick about him if he did, and if something happened to him, he knew she would blame herself for not stopping him or something. She would never let him leave, she wouldn't understand. Damn it, why did he come here in the first place?

Kairi placed a hand on Sora's shoulder. "Sora, are you okay?"

Sora immediately turned around and planted his lips onto hers. Any hesitation due to her relationship with Riku didn't matter anymore. At this point, he couldn't care less about that pretty boy bitch. As far as Sora was concerned, Kairi was his.

After the brief surprise of being suddenly kissed by Sora, Kairi kissed back. Although, she didn't know where it came from, but she was far from complaining. She was beginning to miss Sora's sweet kisses anyway. After about two minutes, they broke apart. Even though she enjoyed it, she still felt like something was bothering Sora. "Sora...you can tell me what's on your mind if you want..."

"It's nothing, it's just...I don't know. I love you, okay? That's all you need to know."

Kairi nodded. "I love you, too." She decided it would be best if she didn't ask anymore questions. Sora kissed Kairi on the forehead one last time as he backed up and jumped out of her window.

Outside, Yuffie was waiting for Sora over by a nearby tree. He ran up to her as she was tapping her foot impatiently.

"Jeez, Sor, what'd you do? Have sex with her?"

"Knock it off, already. Come on, we got work to do."

And with that, Sora and Yuffie were off to go find the murderer, Sora taking the lead. They headed onto the Market Street, which was one of the busiest and most populated streets in Twilight Town during the day time, but at night, boy was it creepy. All of Twilight Town was creepy at night, it was like a ghost town. But Sora nor Yuffie were at all afraid. Sora was just on the lookout for anything suspicious and Yuffie was just outright fearless.

"Hey, Sora, you know I think this kind of stuff is cool and exciting, but what do you plan on finding this late at night?"

"Clues, of course. Every crime has a foundation, and to discover those floors, evidence is necessary, a given."

"And what kind of clues were you expecting to find?"

"I dunno, I'm going with the flow here." Sora stopped once he noticed the raven-hair girl was no longer walking by his side. He turned around to see her running another way down some steps.

"Over here, Sor!"

"Wait up!" Sora tried following her, but she was so fast, he could hardly keep up. Damn Yuffie and her hyperactive necessities! Sora caught up to Yuffie in the Sandlot, who was unusually quiet. He took a look down and saw something that made him mimic his hyper friend.

It was a man in a suit, deceased. It had looked as if he nearly indulged himself in a blood bath. Yuffie and Sora's eyes were wide, and then they heard a rustle from the bushes behind them, which startled them both. They slowly turned around, only to come across rustling bushes and a gush of wind inducing the suspenseful silence.

There was no way they were staying at this place, a murderer was somewhere close! Sora grabbed Yuffie's hand and began running as fast as he could away from the area, but before they could get anywhere, a spear flew up to them and caught Sora by the shoulder, pinning his clothes to the wall. It narrowly missed his skin, so he wasn't sheathed.

"Sora!" Yuffie cried. As Yuffie was about to help Sora, a mysterious poison began caressing her, and she soon fell unconscious onto the ground below.

"No!" Sora yelled. He pulled the spear off of him and threw it away. He quickly ran up to Yuffie, but before he could reach her, a man landed before him. He was a man with a light color skin tone, yellow and fiercely cold eyes, and his expression screamed grimace. He had on a black leather jacket, underneath it being a thin white vest that exposed his chest. Sora recoiled.

"Get the hell outta my way!" Sora screamed. He had to get to Yuffie no matter what. He couldn't let her die out here after he asked her to come out to help him, it would all be his fault. Sora attempted to throw a fist at the intimidating figure, but the man only grabbed Sora's fist at ease, proceeding to throw the boy back into hitting the nearby wall. Then Sora remembered, they were in the Sandlot. There had to be some struggle bats around here somewhere that he could use. Sora dodge rolled (Reference Alert.) and began running up to a nearby crate he saw nearby a chalkboard that usually showed the contenders for struggle tournaments.

Sora popped the crate open and pulled out a struggle bat, then his eyes widened when he felt a hand grab a hold of his shoulder. Sora shook the mysterious man's hand off of him and turned around, getting into his battle stance, where he arched his legs out and protected the bat behind him (Yeah, the same stance he has in the game).

Sora jumped into the air and did a quick set of combo attacks at fast succession, a move he liked to called Ars Arcanum (Reference Alert.) which did do a good set of damage to the intimidating figure, but his opponent quickly recovered, beginning to sprint up to Sora and give him a simple back slap, knocking Sora to the ground.

Sora clasped his cheek, cringing from the pain. He looked up at the man, who looked almost like a figment of some kind of dark power at this point. He gave Sora the creepiest smirk he had ever seen in his life. "Tell me, who are you?!"

"It is I, Ansem, the seeker of darkness." (Reference Alert.)

"Seeker of darkness?"

"My mission is to find the darkness that can take over this puny existence of a spit of a world this is. Darkness is what can make this world a better place, anarchy, chaos, it is the only way..."

Sora stood up. "What the hell do you think this is? Some kind of video game?"

Ansem smirked. "I only seek to find the darkness that is begging to be conquered. Light has had too heavy of an influence on this world, but I know there's some darkness out there just waiting to be sprung out, I'm sure of it. This world began in darkness, you know? Darkness is in everything, and we feed on it everyday, our selfish desires, our cruel ways...it all comes from the heart. (Reference alert ahead.) All things begin in darkness...and all so end. The heart is no different, darkness sprouts within it, it grows, consumes it, such is its nature. In the end, this whole world will return to the darkness whence it came! You see, darkness is the heart's true essence..."

"Whatever, man! You're insane! There is no 'darkness' to be conquered! All I know is that you killed somebody very important to a friend of mines, and you nearly ruined that person's life!"

"You say this as if I should care."

"You should! You're killing people who did nothing to you! Why? Why are you killing people for no reason?"

Ansem crossed his arms. "I suppose since I shall kill you within a moment, it would be no harm in telling you."

Sora scowled. "I'm all ears."

"If you must know, I'm looking for blood samples. I need to find anybody who is related to a certain warrior from years ago...Cloud Strife."

Sora's eyes widened. He gulped to liquefy his dry throat. "W-Why?"

"Whoever is related to Cloud Strife has a special talent that can ruin all of my research, and I can't afford to allow that to be of any trouble in the future. I'm trying to find the core to this pitiful existence of the world, with it, I can unleash the power of darkness..."

"You're insane! There's no such thing! Quit being a dumbass and try being _normal _or something!"

Ansem raised a brow. "Do you have a death wish? How dare you speak to me in such a disrespectful tone? I guess I have no choice..." Ansem began raising his fist threateningly. Sora gasped, not knowing what he should do. He was too paralyzed to hit him with the struggle bat, this was it. He was a goner...goodbye Kairi...

"KISARAGI!" Yuffie kicked Ansem into the nearby wall, getting him off-balance. Yuffie had woken up moments before and heard everything Ansem said. Sora took the situation to his advantage and did an attack he called the Dodge Slash (Reference Alert.)

With Ansem currently out of it, Sora and Yuffie took this opportunity to high tail it out of the Sandlot, making it back to Sora's place as fast as they could.

* * *

Sora and Yuffie made it by climbing into Sora's room. Sora hit the floor on all fours as Yuffie plopped back on Sora's bed, both of them breathing immensely. After several minutes of catching their breaths and taking in the information they learned, Yuffie broke the silence.

"Sor, what do we do now?"

How should he know? He's never had to go against people trying to obtain some mysterious dark power before, lest did he know it even existed. Could it really be true, the things Ansem said?

No, it was impossible. He was just somebody who had lost their mind, and Sora had to put a stop to him before he ended up killing more innocent lives. He already hurt Xion, and he was subconsciously after Sora himself. Cloud Strife was Sora's father, and if Ansem were to find out, he could really say goodbye to the world. He had to make sure these not-so-impossible scenarios don't find their way into reality, it would just mean bad news for our spiky-haired protagonist.

"We'll have to stop him."

* * *

Sora and Yuffie woke up early the next day. Sora was clad in a black leather jacket with the sleeves rolled up. Yuffie had on the outfit Kairi gave her a while ago. She loved it. Sora and Yuffie were going to hang out with Kairi, Roxas, and Naminé today, but Naminé and Roxas went to an art museum that Naminé had been wanting to visit, and Kairi had a date with Riku, so they decided to focus on more important matters, like finding that Ansem guy, especially before it got too late. Not to mention that Sora had a performance tonight at Paopu's Pallet, so he and Yuffie had to get out of the house immediately.

Sora and Yuffie were in the kitchen eating breakfast, Aerith was on the phone with somebody, unknown to the two.

"Oh, yes, of course," Aerith giggled. "Sure, I'll send them immediately. Sure. You're welcome, bye." She hung up the phone and began humming to herself as she began dusting the stove. Sora rolled his eyes, his mom was such a..._mom. _

"Hey, Ms. Aerith, who was that you were talking to?" asked Yuffie.

"My, aren't we a nosy chipper today? Well, if you must know, it was a man who wanted me to send him one my apple pies. He wanted to give it to his wife. If you ask me, it's a pretty lousy gift, but it's the thought that counts," Aerith giggled. "Besides, my client is always pretty busy."

"So, who is this client?" asked Sora.

"Oh, he's a very important philanthropist who used to work for the Radiant Garden Science Research Center, his name is Ansem Lee."

Yuffie spit her orange juice right in Sora's face right when she heard the all too familiar name. If his mother weren't in the room, Sora wouldn't have hesitated to smack Yuffie (not in an attempt to truly hurt her, of course), but he held it back and just wiped his face off with a nearby paper towel.

Aerith was so caught up in her own world to even notice the odd predicament of Yuffie's spit take, she was too busy spinning in the kitchen as if she were some kind of princess.

"Say, mom, you think me and Yuffie could deliver that pie for you?"

Aerith looked at him with wide eyes and a smile. "You'd do that, sweetie?"

Sora shrugged. "Sure, me and Yuff don't have anything else to do today anyway."

"Thanks, baby!" Aerith cooed. Aerith spun over to the window sill and picked up a pie she had cooling off. Aerith ripped a sheet of paper out of her notebook and wrote something on it. She then wrapped the pie up in a little bag and handed it to Sora. "I wrote the address on that sheet of paper. Don't be out too long, 'mkay?"

"Sure, whatever," Sora responded.

"We won't let you down, ma'am," Yuffie said in a weird deep voice, as if she were taking on some big mission.

Sora and Yuffie took the bus down to the address, and eventually made their way up to residence Aerith directed them to go to. They were amazed to find that Ansem lived in such a prestigious place. It was a huge mansion that seemed to have three floors.

"Wow...nice pad," Yuffie commented.

"No kidding. Wouldn't it be something if we lived in a place like that?" Yuffie nodded. "Wait a sec, what do we do if Ansem recognizes us from last night?"

Yuffie closed her eyes with a casual look on her face and folded her hands behind her head. "We kick his ass."

Yuffie went into her bag and pulled out her shuriken, chuckling evilly while doing so. She then pulled out the struggle bat that Sora technically stole last night, and tossed it to him. Sora caught it and gave her a smirk. They nodded in unison and proceeded heading up to the front door, and Yuffie rang the doorbell. It wasn't long before a butler answered the door. He was a stout man with a balding fuzz atop his head, and had on a black suit, inevitably.

"Yes?" he asked in his snooty voice. He didn't care for the apparel of the two young adults before him.

"We're here to see Mistah Ansem, we got a pie from Aerith Hikari! Got a problem with it, Alfred?" Yuffie said cheerfully and slightly threateningly.

The butler didn't seem very intimidated. "Right this way..." he eyed Yuffie up and down. "Madam."

Yuffie perked up and tried looking studious as she walked in. Sora only rubbed the back of his head kind of nervously as he enter. What if Ansem ambushed them? It was pretty dark the night before, so perhaps he wouldn't recognize them. A million things were trying to process in Sora's head, and he just couldn't decode it all.

The butler led the two up to a very intimidating door, making Sora begin to sweat nervously. Yuffie wasn't affected, as far as she was concerned, this was going to be some sweet payback. The butler opened the door and allowed the two teenagers inside. "Sir, I have two guests who have been sent by Mrs. Hikari."

There was a chair with its back turned to them, and a hand was shown from behind it, assuring the butler it was okay to allow them in his office.

The butler walked out and shut the door as he left. As soon as he was gone, Yuffie did a somersault onto the table, landing in a crouched position. "Alright, listen dick head! We're here because we want a little retribution, ya dig? We need to teach you a lesson! We need to show you what happens when you mess with Sora Hikari and Yuffie...KISARAGI!"

Sora face palmed himself. So much for Ansem not recognizing them.

To both of their surprises, though, the chair turned around and it wasn't Ansem sitting in the chair. At least it didn't seem like it...

He was a man with blond hair, it was long and slicked back. He sported a mustache and a goatee, bright orange eyes, and was clad in a red robe. "Well, I sure do hope that my company won't be of disappointment," the man said in his deep voice, a grin on his face.

"Uh..." Sora and Yuffie said at the same time. This was _definitely _not the Ansem they had met last night.

"Um, sir, I just have to ask-"

"Who the hell are you?" asked Yuffie, interrupting Sora. She had a tendency to be rather rude when she was either confused or didn't get her way.

"Yuffie!" Sora scolded. Yuffie looked back at him with a bored expression, as if she didn't really care what he was talking about. "I apologize about her sir, she's not exactly friendly to new faces sometimes."

"I take it from that tone you speak from experience?"

"I sure do, sir," said Sora with gritted teeth as he grabbed Yuffie and pulled her off the table. Yuffie dusted herself off, a casual look on her face. She wasn't in a particularly good mood right now. She wanted to kick somebody's ass. "Anyway, here's your pie, sir." Sora placed the pie on the desk, earning him a friendly smile from this man, self-proclaiming to be Ansem.

"Thank you, young lad. My wife will most definitely appreciate the effort you've shown today."

Sora nodded. "Um, I hope you don't mind, but is it okay if I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Is your name really Ansem?"

Ansem chuckled at such an odd question. "What's with such odd inquiry?"

"Yeah, well," Yuffie got into the conversation. "We met this creep last night who said _his _name was Ansem. I don't know who Ansem is, but _somebody's _lying! And let me just tell you, old man, I'm not too keen on liars!"

Ansem only smiled. "I assure you, Miss Kisaragi, was it? I am Ansem. Ansem Lee. About this other Ansem, could you describe him for me?"

Sora tapped his chin. "His skin was tan-ish but he had a light-skinned complexion, his hair was silver, and he had this creepy smile he kept sporting. Kept going on about something about 'conquering the darkness'."

Ansem's eyes widened. "No, it can't be...it can't be!"

"What the matter?" asked Sora.

"My oh my, things are worse than I feared..."

"Huh?" Sora was confused now.

Yuffie scowled at the old man with her fists on her hips. "You gots some explainin' to do do, pal!"

Ansem nodded. "I couldn't agree more. Please, have a seat."

Sora did as told and took a seat, but then the lights turned off and everything somehow turned black and white. Yuffie walked in, (it was unknown to Ansem and Sora as to when she ever left.) and she was clad in a trench coat and a fedora, a toothpick in her mouth. She spit the toothpick out and it landed right into a nearby trashcan. She walked up to the desk and turned on a lamp, shining the light on Ansem Lee.

"Alright, Lee," Yuffie spoke in a pretend thick New Jersey accent. "Where was you on the night of October 15th, 2013?"

"Yuffie, what are you doing?" asked Sora, annoyed.

"SHUT UP, MAGGOT!" Yuffie yelled in a random military voice.

Sora rolled his eyes and face palmed himself.

"You ain't foolin' me, Lee, I knows ya gots somethin' in ya sleeve, see? And I ain't gon stop interrogatin' ya till I find out what's up with ya, see? So start runnin' that furry mouth of yours, see?!"

Ansem only raised an eyebrow. "Interesting friend of yours," he said directed at Sora.

"I say the same thing all the time, sir..." Sora said while rubbing the back of his head.

"Who gave you runts permission to talk to each other, eh? I need answers, darn it! I NEED ANSWERS!"

Sora had never been more embarrassed to be Yuffie's friend before. Despite her rude behavior, Ansem was still amused by Yuffie's antics and found her quite charming.

"Okay seriously, Yuffie, cut it out. This is serious," Sora scolded. Yuffie sighed and snapped twice, making the odd black and white filter go away. She discarded herself of the trench coat and hat as she sat down next to Sora. "Okay, sir, now can you explain the situation."

"Thank you." Ansem cleared his throat. "I see you have come across someone with evil intentions. The one who you met, he is not Ansem. He is just claiming to be me, for what reason, I have no clue. He was my apprentice during my research. His name is Xehanort. As time proceeded, he seemed to grow more interested in the darkness of the heart. He wanted to further explore the temptations of darkness, and it led to him believing that there was some sort of dark force within the world that was waiting to be unleashed. I told him to give it up, because his theories and methods were utterly ridiculous and just all around insane. Things were said, arguments arose, and he grew tired of it. He left my facility and made me an oath that one day I'd pay for failing to share his vision."

"That sounds like our guy alright..." Sora admitted. "But, is it true? The darkness waiting to be unleashed?"

"Heavens, no. It just a load of hogwash he interpreted for himself, something to give hope for. I assure you, there's nothing to be worried about."

"Well, that's good to hear," said Sora.

"What are we supposed to do? We can't just let this fake Ansem run around," Yuffie emphasized.

"I agree with you," Ansem said with a smile. "But alas, I fear I can't accommodate the situation. What am I supposed to do?" Ansem looked at Sora closely. "You...you're Cloud Strife's son, aren't you?"

Sora smirked. "How'd you know?"

"We've met before, but you probably cannot recall. I met you and your family once in Destiny City...you were just three years old at the time."

"Destiny City?" Sora asked himself. "I don't remember ever being in Destiny City."

"That's odd," Ansem agreed. "But think you can handle this situation with my apprentice, Sora."

"Me?"

"Yes. Since Cloud is your father, I believe you have the resilience to surpass and conquer whatever it is he's planning. The only one who can stop him...is you, Sora."

Did Sora just enter a Harry Potter novel? When did things get so intense? "How do I do that?"

Ansem leaned back in his chair. "Beats me." Sora and Yuffie's heads dropped from the vague answer. "But if anything, it would just be something that will help charge that spark inside of you. It will allow you to find the will to fight for that special thing you love most...the proper motivation."

"I get it," Yuffie said thoughtfully. "So what you're saying is, is that Sora needs to take the fake Ansem out with his loved ones in mind."

Ansem nodded. "That is correct." He looked at Sora. "So, my boy, who is very important to you?"

Sora rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I mean, there's a lot of people who are very important to me. But there's a only a few who are special to me."

"And who might those people be?"

Sora chuckled. "Oh, that's easy...my mom, my brother, Yuffie, and Kairi." Yuffie gave Sora a warm smile and put an arm around his shoulder.

"I see. Well, do you think that perhaps anyone of them could be in danger, except for Yuffie of course, since she's right here with you right now."

Sora thought about it. "I don't know..."

"I think it's best you find out."

Sora nodded in agreement. "You're right. I have to protect the ones I care about..." he turned to look at Yuffie. "Let's go."

* * *

Sora and Yuffie quickly made their way to the Sandlot, the same area they met the fake Ansem, or more accurately, Xehanort. Xehanort was going down...

Tonight.

They knew he would come back here. Most of the victims that were reported to have been murdered were at the Sandlot. Sora pulled out his struggle bat and began swinging it around. "You ready for this?" he asked Yuffie.

"Sora," Yuffie said, looking a little more serious than usual. "I think you should go."

Sora stopped swinging his bat, and gave Yuffie an odd stare. "Why?"

"I don't want you to get hurt."

"I could say the same for you."

"Don't make this any harder, okay? Just please, leave. This Xehanort creep is bad news, and I know what Ansem said, but I don't want you to get hurt." Yuffie placed a hand on his shoulder. "You're the bestest best friend I've ever had. What would I do with myself if you get hurt?"

"But Yuffie, I want to help...what about Kairi? What if _she_ got hurt...?"

"Don't worry. I'll look after Kairi for you. But you, you need to get out of here. Besides, you have a performance at Paopu's Pallet tonight, right? Go ahead and start getting ready."

"Yuffie..." Sora didn't know what to do. He knew Yuffie was being serious, though, and he was sure that Yuffie could probably handle it herself. After all, she is the 'great' ninja. Sora grinned lightly. "Fine. But if you need me, I'll be here. I promise."

Yuffie returned to her old chipper self. "Of course you will!"

With that, Sora left. Yuffie didn't want him to get hurt. If anyone were to get hurt, it was going to be her. She wasn't sure if she'd even survive tonight against Xehanort, but as long as Sora, Aerith, and Kairi were okay...that's all she cared about right now.

* * *

Yuffie waited at the Sandlot all day.

She hid herself behind a chalkboard, but eventually she fell asleep unintentionally. She could be bored only for so long, and there wasn't any sign of the fake Ansem.

It was nighttime, and it was when Kairi and Riku walked down from the steps, Riku's arm over her shoulder.

Kairi and her boyfriend had just come from a movie that Kairi was _dying _to see. Riku figured he'd take her out to it since she kept talking about it. Riku was still unaware of the fact that Kairi cheated on him, but Kairi thought it'd be best if he never found out about it. Kairi didn't even feel guilty about it, either. As far as she was concerned, she was supposed to be with Sora right now, but things don't happen the way they should. Nonetheless, they had a good time tonight.

"That ending made me want to cry," Kairi said in the midst of their conversation.

"Aw, don't be a baby," Riku teased.

Kairi smirked at him. "Like when you cried during the middle of the movie when that one girl died-"

"Hey," Riku interrupted. "It was _one _tear."

Kairi giggled. They both took a seat by a nearby bench. "So, why did you want to come here, anyway?"

"Look at the stars...aren't they beautiful? You can't see them anywhere else in town. I figured you might have wanted to see them."

Kairi did admire astronomy. "It is nice..." Despite the fact that she would trade Riku for Sora in a heartbeat, she didn't mind spending time with him occasionally. He was sweet when he wanted to be. "Although, I think we would have had a better view up at the top of the Station Tower."

Riku face palmed himself. "Damn, why didn't I think of that?"

Kairi giggled. "It's okay."

Riku gave her a smirk and closed his eyes, beginning to lean forward to Kairi with his lips in anticipation. Kairi started panicking, not wanting to kiss him at all. It was bad enough for having kissed Sora while being with Riku...twice. This was going to be overkill, and not only that but Riku just really wasn't that good of a kisser, at least not when compared to Sora.

Kairi turned her face and Riku's lips ended up pecking Kairi's cheek. He pulled back, a bit disappointed he didn't get to taste those cherry-flavored lips, but he decided not to let that get in the way of this evening.

The two became startled when they began hearing loud footsteps. Soon, down the steps came Xehanort. He gave Riku and Kairi a cold stare, as if they were on his turf.

"Hi," Kairi said to him, trying to be friendly.

Xehanort didn't respond. He just walked up to them slowly, and he was starting to intimidate the two. Once he reached them, he gave Riku a good examination.

"What the hell are you doing, dude?" asked the confused and creeped out Riku.

Xehanort responded by choking him, causing Kairi to gasp. She stood up and began backing up a little. Xehanort smirked at Riku and tossed him back, allowing him to hit the wall. Kairi ran up to Xehanort and began pounding on his chest. "Leave him alone!"

Xehanort simply shoved her back. Xehanort walked up to Riku and punched him square in the face. Riku yelled out of pain and frustration, but he didn't hesitate to get up and begin running out of the sandlot.

"Wait, Riku! Aren't you forgetting something?!" Kairi screamed as he ran away, not giving his so-called girlfriend a second thought.

"Every man and woman for himself!" That was Riku's response.

Kairi couldn't believe what a coward Riku was. If it were Sora she were out here with, he'd have done anything to protect her. At least she now had a legitimate excuse to break up with him. That is, if she _survived _of course.

Xehanort turned around to Kairi and gave her his evil smirk, which Kairi took note of as a hint to run like hell. Before she could make it to the slope that led to the Market Street, Xehanort's big hand grabbed her by the head and threw Kairi on the ground.

"Stop! Leave me alone!" Kairi screamed.

Xehanort shut her up with a harsh smack in the face. He picked her up and gave her a smirk, as if she were his prey. Kairi spit in his eye, something she'd regret doing very soon. Xehanort slapped her in the face twice before pushing her back onto the ground once again. She stood up, but used a lot of effort to do so, but before she could act, she was punched straight in the gut.

Kairi fell to her side and began clutching her stomach in pain. Xehanort didn't seem to have remorse, he enjoyed doing this to his victims. He picked Kairi up one last time and clenched his fist. "Now, this is the night you die..."

Yuffie, from behind the chalkboard began stirring.

Before Xehanort could do the damage to Kairi, he heard a wind noise. He caught a shuriken without looking and turned to the side and found Yuffie leaning by a chalkboard with a scowl on her face. "Remember me, Xehanort?"

Xehanort's eyes widened, but before he could say anything, he was kicked in the gut by Yuffie herself. Yuffie caught her shuriken and gave Kairi a wink. She turned back to Xehanort. "Hey ugly, this is my friend, you know! I don't take too kindly to people messing with my friends!"

"You...called me Xehanort. Where did you hear that?"

"From the _real _Ansem. He told us all about you and your little scheme. And I figured that the only reason you claimed to be Ansem was so that the real Ansem would get blamed for all the people you killed, ruining his reputation and making him lose his job. Would I be right?"

Xehanort nodded with a smirk. "I guess you're not as stupid as you look."

"It's not rocket science, why else would you claim to be him?" Yuffie boasted with confidence.

"If you'll excuse me," Xehanort spoke to Kairi. "I have some business to attend to with your little friend here. I suppose I'll only toy with her for the moment, but I'll make it quick for you, my dear."

"What'd you say?!" Yuffie said, now very irritated. She wasted no more time and began sprinting after Xehanort, but was soon met with his hand to her face and he tossed her to the side. Yuffie did an Aerial Recovery (Reference Alert.) and tossed her shuriken at Xehanort.

The silver-haired man simply lifted himself into the air and did a flashy twirl, landing in front of Yuffie and kicking her to the ground, knocking the living daylights out of her. Xehanort's strength was beyond comprehension. Xehanort began to repeatedly stomp on Yuffie while she was on the ground, and Yuffie was now too weak at this point to do anything about it. She was helpless.

Kairi couldn't stand it any longer and ran up to Xehanort, trying to punch him again, but her hits were ineffective. Xehanort used an elbow to deliberately hit her straight in the face. Kairi held onto her face as she let her tears stream down her face, sobbing uncontrollably and forcefully. Xehanort didn't care, though. He just wanted both of them dead and out of his way. Xehanort picked Kairi up by arm, but before he could do anything, he was met with a struggle bat straight to the face, which knocked him back a few feet, hard enough that he fell onto the ground below. He looked up to see Sora and Roxas, and Sora had the struggle bat in hand and he looked livid right now. He was wearing a shirt, a black vest, and some skinny jeans, which must have meant he left right after he concluded his performance at the Pallet.

"DON'T YOU EVER MAKE KAIRI CRY!" Sora yelled.

Kairi looked up at Sora in shock, and quickly gave him a big hug. "Sora!"

"It's alright..." he comforted as she cried over his shoulder. Roxas walked over to Kairi and put a reassuring hand on her back. Sora turned and gave Xehanort a frightening scowl to the face. "You son of a bitch," Sora said with a growl. "I'm gonna fucking kill you!"

Sora put Kairi aside and ran up to Xehanort. Xehanort staggered his way back onto his feet, and Sora just began wailing on him with the struggle bat. Xehanort couldn't even fight back, Sora was just manhandling him. "This is for Yuffie and Kairi!"

Never had Xehanort been so beaten before, nobody had ever been the one on top against him. He was so weak, he could hardly move...this boy sure was something. Sora continued beating on Xehanort until he finally stopped, noting the blood all over Xehanort's body. He decided he had done enough damage and backed up a little.

"I should kill you, shouldn't I? Make you feel the pain you've caused for countless lives that didn't even deserve it. You...you deserve it. But I can't kill you...I'm not like you..."

Xehanort was breathing heavily over the immense amount of pain he just suffered, to make matters worse for him he was completely owned by a fifteen year old and he soon passed out.

"Holy shishkabob, remind me not to upset you over something about Kairi," said Roxas. Sora nodded at him and gave Kairi a smile, to which she returned of course and ran up to him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

Sora gave Kairi a smile. "You okay?"

Kairi nodded. "I think I'll be fine..."

"I'll call the cops," Roxas offered. Sora pulled away from Kairi and ran over to Yuffie, helping her up.

"You alright, Yuff?" he asked.

Yuffie coughed and then opened one eye while offering a smile. "Yeah, I'm good. It's gonna take more than a creepy old loser to stop Yuffie Kisaragi!"

Sora returned the smile. "I know."

Riku came peering back down from the stairs above, looking cautiously for the intimidating man, but found him knocked out on the ground. Riku assumed it'd be safe to come on down and regroup with everybody. Soon he was met with the tip of a struggle bat pointed at his face courtesy of Sora.

"You coward!" Sora exclaimed.

"What are you talking about?" Riku asked dumbly.

"You're supposed to be there for Kairi! You were supposed to protect her! What kind of a boyfriend are you?!"

"So was I supposed to get myself killed and end up having two lives lost?!"

"It's better than running away."

"Don't give me that crap, I have to look out for myself you know!"

"Why are you so conceited? You know what? That's it, you and Kairi's relationship is over!"

"You can't tell me that me and Kairi's relationship is over!"

Kairi scowled at the silver-haired boy. "Then allow me." Kairi walked to Riku and cleared her throat. "You and mines relationship is over, Riku!"

Riku had became paralyzed. No way she could have said that...but she did. And judging by those eyes he could tell that she meant it.

"IN YO FACE, BIATCH!" Yuffie cheered. Yuffie and Sora began mocking Riku by making funny faces at him.

Soon the police and the ambulance arrived, taking Xehanort to get some help and lock him into the slammer. Sora, Yuffie, Kairi, and Roxas decided to go on ahead and go home. Being in the Sandlot at all was depressing after taking in the events that just happened.

Riku roamed the streets of Twilight Town, wondering what he did wrong. He thought Kairi was his, but it seemed like she just wasn't into him like he thought. She wasn't willing to give him any second chances, as if she were waiting for Riku to slip up to give her an excuse to break up with him. He knew why though, it could only be...

Sora.

Sora said goodbye to Kairi. They agreed that Kairi could use some rest after the traumatic day she had. Roxas went over to the Pallet to go pick up his girlfriend, leaving Sora and Yuffie to chill in Sora's room. Sora kicked back in his chair with a satisfied smile. "What a day, eh Yuffie? Heh heh heh..."

Yuffie didn't respond. It was weird, usually she was very talkative and chipper, but she looked troubled. She figured it was time to let Sora in on something she had been keeping from him. Perhaps he could help out, who knew? But if he couldn't, then her friendship with Sora would be done. It was either one way or the other, and if it happened to be the latter...

Sora gave Yuffie a concerned look. "A penny for your thoughts? C'mon, Yuff, I didn't think a little bad guy bashing would turn the 'great ninja' Yuffie Kisaragi into a mute."

Yuffie turned to Sora, looking a bit melancholic. "I have something to tell you."

Sora started looking at her with interested eyes. "Okay."

"Do you want to know why I'm always coming over here? Why I'm always bumming at your place?"

Sora raised a brow. "Sure, okay. But it's not like I mind, I love having you here, Yuffie."

"That's not the point. I don't want to be a burden. See, the thing is...my apartment at West Central or whatever, doesn't exist. Or at least, I don't live there...so..."

Sora's eyes widened. "So you mean..."

"Sora...I'm homeless."

* * *

Leave a review!


	12. Hell Into Heaven

Chapter 12

Sora was absolutely shocked. He didn't know what to say but he needed further explanation.

Yuffie stood there with her hands clasped, waiting for a reaction or for Sora to say something but nothing came, allowing her to realize that she needed to further fulfill her exposition.

"So now you know," Yuffie began. "I don't have a home, and I hated the foster home I was sent to, all the kids made fun of me and beat me occasionally, so I ran away. You were the first friend I ever made, so I thought I'd just drop by all the time. I...I guess in a sense...I was using you. I just didn't expect my time here to be so much fun, and you and your mother have been so kind to me."

Sora's face was still blank. It would take a mind reader to tell what he was thinking.

"I felt bad for using your mom's house as a place to take advantage of, I just didn't expect us to bond so closely or for me to like you all as much. If I found you guys annoying or didn't like spending time with you, I wouldn't be feeling very guilty. But you've been so nice to me, I don't want to take advantage of you and be a burden anymore...I'm sorry."

Sora's face, it was _still _blank. Yuffie was feeling a little, dare she say...nervous? She had never been the foreign term of nervous once in her life, even when scrapping for food in the streets as a child, she never cried, never got angry, never got sad, she always kept herself in a positive mood. That's why she is the way she is today, but she couldn't help but slightly tremble. She liked Sora, she really did. If she were to lose the first friend she ever had, she wouldn't know what to do, where to go, and she'd go into a deep depression.

She couldn't tell if Sora was sad, sympathetic, mad, angry, confused...perhaps he was all of them in one. Yuffie would bet that even Kairi wouldn't be able to tell if she were here. Yuffie turned around, her back facing Sora.

"I guess it would be best if I left. I'm sorry for taking advantage of you, but I want you to know...that I really do like you Sora, I really do care about you, and I'll miss you."

Just as she was about to leave, a hand grasped her wrist. She was shocked at first and turned around to see Sora with his head down, and his hair shrouding his eyes. He looked kind of pissed off, as if he were on the verge of beating Yuffie to a bloody pulp. But instead she was shocked to see that when Sora lifted his face, there was only a bright smile.

"Yuffie," he began. "Why didn't you tell me that you were homeless?"

"I mean, I thought...I thought you wouldn't want anything to do with me if you knew..."

"Why would I not want anything to do with you? Yuffie, you're one of my best friends, I'd never let you go back on the streets where it's dangerous. I can't believe you didn't put in enough trust in me to believe that."

Yuffie smiled. "I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry for not figuring it out sooner. Why else would you be here everyday? I'm surprised I didn't see it a while ago." Sora took her hand in his. "But don't worry, Yuff, we'll get you through this, I promise."

Yuffie could hardly contain her excitement. She gave Sora a warm and enthusiastic hug. She was just glad that this didn't ruin their friendship. "Thank you so so so so so much, Sora! You don't know how glad I am that you're still my friend!"

"No prob."

"So what now? Are you gonna help me find a place to live?"

Sora thought about it for a second, but then his expression lightened up. "I got a better idea."

...

Sora had his mother come down to the kitchen for a family meeting, Roxas was asleep so there was no point in dragging him down. Yuffie and Aerith sat at the table while Sora stood before them as if he were some kind of teacher.

"Okay, mom, I guess you're wondering why I called this family meeting. Well, that's a good question. I think I'll let Yuffie explain." Sora gave Yuffie a reassuring look.

Yuffie nodded back. She turned to Aerith, who was looking slightly concerned. Yuffie inhaled and exhaled, ready to come out clean. "Ms. Hikari...I'm...I'm homeless." Aerith gasped. "Yeah, I never met my folks, I don't know whether they died or gave me up or what...but all I know is...I was never raised. I've been out on the streets for so long, so when I met your son, I thought it'd be a nice change of pace in my life. But I feel like I've just been taking advantage of you for my unfortunate situation, and you shouldn't take advantage of people you care about...and I'm sorry...I'm sorry..."

Aerith had her hands clasped around her mouth in pure shock. She couldn't imagine how much Yuffie must have been suffering all these years. Aerith stood from her chair and walked over to Yuffie, giving her a hug. "It's okay, baby, I don't think you were using us. If you didn't like like us, I'm sure you wouldn't have came back at all."

"That's what I said," Sora chimed in.

"It's okay, Yuffie. I still like you if that's what you were worried about," Aerith said with sympathy.

Yuffie smiled at the kind woman. "Thanks, that means a lot." Aerith then slapped Yuffie on the arm. "Hey! What was that for?!"

Aerith put her hands on her hips, looking somewhat stern. "Why didn't you tell us sooner? We could have resolved the problem much quicker."

Yuffie raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

Aerith and Sora shared a smile at each other, since Sora already knew what she was about to say. "Well, if you had told us, I would have been able to start getting you the things you need. Surely you can't walk around the house like that all the time."

"Huh?" Yuffie was confused. Was Aerith implying something?

Aerith put a hand to her chin. "Of course, now I'm going to have to get you clothes, a toothbrush, a drawer, I'm going to have to cook even larger meals..."

"Wait a second, are you saying..." Yuffie began.

"Still haven't caught on?" asked Sora with a smirk.

"Yuffie," Aerith gave Yuffie a bright and friendly smile. One of those smiles you only see in pictures. "Would you like to live with us?"

Yuffie's eyes widened as a party began forming inside of her. She had never been so happy to hear such simple words in her life. She ran up and hugged Sora and Aerith as tight as she could. "THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!"

Sora was expecting this kind of reaction from her, and he couldn't help but chuckle. She pulled apart from them. "Looks like you're my new sister, Yuffie," Sora realized.

"And you're my brother! Ohmigosh, that's so awesome to actually be saying that!"

"Oh yes, adoption. I'll have to take care of that as well." Aerith put a hand on Yuffie's shoulder with another smile on her face. "You'll be like the daughter I never had."

"Wait a second, where am I going to sleep?"

"We have a spare room upstairs," Aerith explained. "But it's pretty dirty since we practically stuffed all of our unneeded or rarely used items in there. It's kind of like an attic without being an attic. I'll have to call some men in to repair the room into suitable living space. Until then, you can sleep anywhere you'd like."

"You can bunk with me if you want," Sora suggested. It wasn't like they hadn't slept in the same bed together before anyway.

"Okay!" Yuffie said with much enthusiasm. This was crazy for her...she had a home! She lived here! No longer did she have to scrap for food or shelter. She had a family...family...at last.

"Hey mom, is Yuffie gonna be able to go to Strife Academy?"

"Sure, of course. Education is always key."

"Blah, blah, blah," Sora responded. Sora always hated school.

Aerith ruffled her son's hair. "You'll learn that someday." Aerith put her hands on her hips. "This is going to be a little bit of work, trying to get Yuffie suited in here, but it'll all be worth it." Aerith gave Yuffie a smile. "Just make yourself at home and have some fun, 'mkay?"

"I will!" Yuffie quickly responded.

Later on, Sora and Yuffie got ready for bed. They were both really tired after the day they had today, what with defeating Xehanort and such. Sora turned on his TV, the screen showcased the news. A reporter was speaking.

"And to follow up more of today's highlights, a man by the name Xehanort Zane was found in the Twilight Town Sandlot brutally beaten to a pulp. This man has been reported by eye witnesses as the one who's been killing many innocent victims for the past week. The TTPD (Twilight Town Police Department) were called by a fifteen-year old named Roxas Hikari, but when the police arrived, only the body of Xehanort was found. One can only assume that Roxas was the one who took Mr. Zane down once and for all, and the TTPD would like to solemnly thank him for his services. Xehanort will be taken into custody immediately. Back to you, Todd."

Sora turned the TV off. Great, he did all the work, and because of a lousy phone call, Roxas got all the credit. Life can be funny, huh? Oh well, at least Xehanort was gone and out of their lives. Soon Yuffie walked in, wearing a night gown that she borrowed from Aerith, which was of relief to Sora. Sure, he always thought Yuffie was very attractive but it was just unnerving to have to sleep with her in the same bed in her underwear.

"Hey, you," he greeted.

"Hey," she greeted back. "Isn't this cool? We're actually living together! I can't believe it!"

"It is pretty cool, huh?" Sora agreed. Sora got into bed and patted the spot next to him. "Well? Aren't you going to get in bed?"

Yuffie crossed her arms. "Nuh-uh! You're my brother now. I can't be sleeping in the same bed with you now, that's just wrong."

"Well, where else are you going to sleep?"

"On the floor!" Yuffie laid down on the carpeted floor of Sora's, laying herself back and sighing out of relief. She looked up to see Sora looking a little melancholic. "What's wrong?"

"You're really going to sleep on the floor?"

"It's okay." Sora continued given her the sad look. "Come on, don't look at me like that. It's fine, really."

Sora smirked and shook his head. "Get on the bed." Sora got out of the bed and helped Yuffie up. "I'll sleep on the floor, okay?"

"No, Sora, I can sleep on the floor, you can sleep on the bed, it's the least I could do after all the kindness you've shown me."

"Don't make such a big deal out of this, okay? Just get on the bed. Please." Sora gave her a smile. "For me?" He made the puppy dog face. Most guys can't pull it off, but to Yuffie, Sora was just so cute it was almost dangerous. She tossed her hands up in defeat.

"Fine!" Yuffie made her way onto Sora's soft and comfortable bed, she'll admit, it beats the floor by a thousand miles. How Sora could give it up like that to her, she had no idea, but she didn't even know if she'd be willing to give it up.

Sora sat down on the floor and watched as Yuffie snuggled up in his bed, causing him to chuckle. "Cozy?"

"Very."

"Toss me a pillow."

Yuffie did as told and Sora laid down on the floor, resting the back of his head on the pillow, and his hands folded behind his head.

"I'm really sorry about this," Yuffie apologized.

"Don't sweat it. I don't mind," Sora admitted. "Just get a good night's rest, okay?"

Yuffie nodded. She turned off the light on his nightstand, making the room shroud in complete darkness. "Sora?"

"Yeah?"

"Promise me that you'll be the best brother ever..."

Wow, Sora had never known Yuffie to be so vulnerable, but she was just very happy right now, being able to finally have a home to come to, and people to love.

"I promise."

"Okay, I should be able to get to sleep tonight."

"Hm, I'm glad." He was.

"Good night, Sor."

"Night."

* * *

The smell of breakfast whiffed itself within her nostrils and manifested a grumble inside her stomach.

"Hey, wake up," she heard. As much as she wanted to, sleep was feeling really good right now. Sweet sweet sleep...

"WAKE UP!"

Yuffie shot her eyes open and sat up, noting Sora snickering beside her. She was in Sora's bed of course, and it was time for a Sunday breakfast, which was the best breakfast of the week, and Sora didn't want Yuffie to miss out. Yuffie rubbed her eyes and gave Sora a smile. It was such a satisfying feeling to know that she and Sora were family now, and they were going to work through life together, as a family.

"Come on, breakfast is ready." Yuffie jumped out of Sora's bed and they both got dressed and ready. The two made their way down to the kitchen where Roxas was already there, smirking at them.

"Hiya, brother and _sister._"

"HIYA!" Yuffie responded back.

"Mom told you everything?" asked Sora.

"Yeah, but I don't mind. I think it's awesome, don't you?" Sora nodded in agreement. Aerith then set their plates on the table. The threes mouths watered at the sight of their breakfast. Steamed rice, miso soup, nori, which was dried seaweed, tomagoyaki, which was a rolled omelet, and broiled fish. It was a traditional Japanese breakfast.

They all started digging in, eating the delicious breakfast Aerith made for them. Aerith loved seeing the sight of seeing her two sons and soon-to-be daughter eating the breakfast she made for them. It warmed her heart, knowing she'd be seeing it a lot more often from now on.

"By the way, Yuffie, Kairi and Naminé are gonna be here in a few so that you can get yourself some new clothes," Sora explained.

"Ooh, sounds fun!" Yuffie said while clapping. "Are you two coming as well?"

Sora and Roxas shared amused glances. "Tch, no!"

"Do we look like chicks to you?" Roxas said while laughing. This earned scowls from Aerith and Yuffie in result and made the two brothers cease laughing.

"Anyway," Sora said. "Me and Roxas are gonna head over to the basketball court and play a few games instead, so you can count us out."

"You guys suck..." Yuffie complained. "It would have been more fun if all of us went."

"Too bad," said Roxas. "Guys just don't like that sort of thing, so tough luck."

Yuffie rolled her eyes. Aerith then walked up to Yuffie with a credit card in hand. "Here you go, Yuffie. Here's a spare credit card I have, you can use it to buy as many outfits as you want."

"Thanks, Ms. Hikari!" Soon, the doorbell rang. Yuffie slurped down her soup and quickly zipped to the door and answered it. "HIII!"

Kairi and Naminé were giving her a warm smile and a wave. Kairi was dressed in some yoga pants, some black boots, and a pink hoodie. Naminé had on a blue sweater that exposed the shoulders and some navy blue jeans. They both had their purses. Sora popped up from behind Yuffie. "Hi, Kairi!"

Kairi playfully rolled her eyes. "Hi, Sora." Sora had become a lot more cheerful lately. It was a nice sight to see him back to his old self, the bitter Sora she met nearly two months ago was gone now. Sora walked up to the auburn haired beauty and they shared a hug.

"Are you okay?" Sora asked. "I know that Xehanort gave you a pretty bad beating yesterday."

Kairi patted him on the cheek. "I'm fine, don't worry about me."

Roxas came out and gave his girlfriend a kiss. "You look nice today, babe," he complimented.

"And you look terrible," Naminé teased.

"You wish." Roxas took a better look at Naminé and Kairi, and was starting to get a little anxious. "Jeez, you girls look good. Sora, you sure you don't wanna tag along?"

Sora thought about all the endless waiting and the weird looks they'd be getting by people while being seen in women apparel shops. "I'm pretty sure. Besides, you and me gotta play some ball right now. It won't be too long before it gets too cold to play at the court anymore."

Roxas groaned. "But Sora..."

Sora grabbed Roxas' hand and dragged him inside his house. "We'll be out of you ladies way."

"I love you, Roxie!" Naminé chanted out before Sora shut the door.

Yuffie gave them an excited smile and grabbed Kairi's hands. "Kairi! Kairi! Kairi! What are we gonna do today, huh?! HUH?! **ANSWER ME!**"

Kairi stopped Yuffie's pouncing and rested her hands on Yuffie's shoulders. "Calm down, Yuffie. We're gonna take you out shopping to get you some clothes." Kairi eyed Yuffie up and down. "I see you really like the outfit I gave you."

"It's the only one I have, the other outfit I had was dirty. You know, I had to steal that outfit."

"I kind of figured," Kairi agreed, recalling the first time they met. Yuffie tried stealing Sora's wallet, funny how she became such good friends with them. Yuffie, Naminé, and Kairi all began walking off to the Market Street. They kept a conversation all the while. "So, you're living with the Hikari's now, huh?" asked Kairi.

Yuffie nodded her head rambunctiously. "Yup!"

Kairi giggled. "I have to say, I'm a little jealous..."

"For what?" asked Naminé.

"I wish I could live in the same house as Sora, maybe get to see him more often..." Kairi smiled at the thought.

Naminé tapped her chin. "Speaking of which, what's gonna happen between you and Sora now? I mean, you broke up with Riku, right? Nothing's in the way of the two of you being together."

"I was thinking about that all night," Kairi admitted. "I don't know, should I really rush things like that?"

"I mean, it's not like you actually had feelings for Riku." Naminé's eyes widened. "Wait, did you?"

"No," Kairi admitted. "But wouldn't people think I was some kind of slut if I just started going out with Sora _right _after I broke up with Riku?"

"You made out with Sora while you were with Riku, you're already a slut," Yuffie said casually.

Kairi growled. "NOBODY ASKED YOU!"

"I don't think it makes you a whore, Kai," Naminé said with encouragement. "You were just going out with Riku because you wanted him to be happy, anyone would understand that. And you had a pretty valid reason for breaking up with him, he totally ditched you when you could have _died _last night! I think it's about time you truly be happy."

Being with Sora would make Kairi the happiest girl in the world. "Shouldn't I like wait, though? You know, for him to ask me out?"

"That stereotype of the guy having to ask the girl out has always bugged me," Yuffie commented. "Why should the guy have to be pressured all the time? I say if you like somebody, you should tell them, guy or girl."

"True," Kairi agreed. "Still...the thought of Sora asking _me _out is something I would love to see. Him walking up to me with that cute grin of his and taking my hands into his as the sun sets in the background, then he pops the question...'Kairi, will you go out with me, you're the best thing that's ever happened in my pathetic miserable life. You're so awesome, Kai, will you be my girlfriend'? I then say yes and we share a kiss filled with passion..."

Yuffie shook her head. "Lay off the chick flicks, will you?"

"SHUT UP!"

* * *

SWISH!

Roxas had just shot a three pointer. They were in the midst of a basketball game. The teams were Sora, Roxas, and Demyx vs. Xigbar, Lexaeus, and Xemnas. The last time they were here, Sora knocked Xigbar out with the basketball, but fortunately, Xigbar was knocked out so bad that he didn't even remember what happened, so there was no beef between them.

The score was 19 to 18, Sora's team in the lead. Xigbar brought the ball down the court. He eyed Xemnas, who did a backdoor cut, allowing him to make his way to the hoop. Xigbar passed it to him underneath Demyx's legs, which Xemnas caught and tossed up for the easy layup, making the score 19 to 20.

Roxas grabbed the ball and went to the out of bounds area and gave Sora a scowl. "We gotta score here, alright? I don't feel like losing!"

"Relax, I have an idea." Sora whispered something into his brother's ears and did the same for Demyx. They all agreed and soon Sora brought the ball down the court after Roxas in-bounded it. Sora had Demyx trail behind him as Roxas played safety at the other end, which seemed pretty stupid. Sora tossed the ball over to Demyx, which he started trying to do some dribble moves but Lexaeus stole the ball. He ran down the court with all his might, but for some reason Sora and Demyx didn't run with them. Lexaeus passed the ball over to Xigbar, but before Xigbar could catch it, Roxas intercepted the pass and ran down the court. With the other team down the court, it gave Team Sora the advantage of not having anybody in their way on the fastbreak.

Roxas gave the ball to Sora, to which Sora tossed up into the air for Demyx to catch in mid-air and slam into the net for the alley oop completion, giving them the win of the game. Xigbar tossed his fists into the air. "I GIVE UP! NO MATTER WHAT THE HELL I DO, I CAN'T STOP SORA AND ROXAS!"

Roxas patted Xigbar on the back with a smirk on his features. "There, there..."

Xigbar swatted his hands away. "Get away!"

Roxas, Demyx, and Sora went over to the bench and wiped the sweat off their faces with the towels that Sora brought.

"Hey, Xigbar, Xemnas, get over here!" Sora called out.

Said names did as told. Xigbar crossed his arms stubbornly.

"What the hell do you want?" Xigbar asked, still stung from the loss he just suffered from.

"We're having a little somethin' somethin' go down at Paopu's Pallet," Sora explained. "You guys want in?"

* * *

"Okay, tell me what you guys think of this one!"

The trio made their way to one of the women's apparel shops and were checking out different outfits. Yuffie came out of the dressing room sporting a black tank top and some skin tight sweats. She did a pose, "How do I look?"

Naminé clapped. "That's a good one."

"Yeah, not bad," Kairi agreed. "I wonder if Sora would like seeing me in something like..." Kairi thought out-loud.

"Oh, I think Sora will like the outfit you got earlier," Naminé said with a giggle. Kairi bought herself a red sundress that went down to her ankles, which Sora would most likely enjoy.

Yuffie smiled. "Yeah, go get 'im, Kai!"

Kairi raised a brow. "I'm confused, Yuffie, don't you have feelings for Sora?"

Yuffie laughed. "Of course I have feelings for Sora! I love him!"

Kairi was beginning to growl out of anger.

"Settle down, princess, I wasn't finished. I love Sora, yeah, but only as like a little brother. I'll admit, when I first met you two I had a tiny crush on him, but I realized that he loves you, more than anything, Kai. So don't worry!"

"I sure hope so..." Kairi said, slightly melancholic.

They had already picked out two handfuls of outfits for Yuffie to wear, and she looked really good in all of them. The card Aerith gave Yuffie had 10000 munny on it, so Yuffie pretty much had an entire closet now. Since all three of them were pretty much jail bait, they were able to seduce a couple of guys to carry their bags and drive them back home.

Once they arrived, they got their bags and entered the Hikari residence, where Roxas was waiting for them, a smirk on his face.

"What's up, Roxie?" asked Yuffie as the three girls set their bags down.

"Nothing. But Kairi, Sora's waiting for you at the park."

That caught Kairi's attention, and Naminé gave Kairi a smile with two thumbs up. "Go get 'im, girl!"

Kairi nodded and quickly began running out of the house as fast as she could. Yuffie ran up to Roxas with her eyes big and enthusiastic. "Is Sora gonna ask her out? Huh? HUH?"

Roxas smirked. "I'm not telling..."

"Aw..." Naminé whined.

* * *

Kairi made her way to the park, all the way up to the basketball court, and she inevitably found Sora waiting on the bench, wearing a wife beater with his scrawny little body. Kairi had a million things going through her mind, like what Sora was going to say, most likely asking her out since Riku was out of the way, who she hadn't heard from all day.

Kairi got a little nervous, the sight of Sora was beginning to become overwhelming. What if he doesn't ask her out? Her whole day would be practically ruined. Kairi sucked up her fears and walked straight on up to Sora and sat next to him. He looked over and noticed her. "Oh! What's up?"

"You wanted me here, didn't you?"

"Yeah, of course. I was wondering if you wanted to spend some time with me, maybe we can go to Paopu's Pallet, talk a little."

She was a little disappointed he didn't ask her to go out to the beach so that they could watch the sunset, but as long as she was going to be asked out by him, she couldn't care less where it would happen. "Okay."

Sora took off a his wife beater, causing Kairi to stare as his surprisingly scrawny yet toned body that didn't look too shabby, and he tossed on a v-neck, also putting on his tight-fitting leather jacket while rolling up the sleeves. He stood up and gave her a smile. "Let's go." Kairi got up as she and Sora left the park. Kairi was getting anxious, Paopu's Pallet needed to come, like now. Right now.

"Hey, Kai, you sure you're not hurting from yesterday?"

"No, I'm fine, honestly Sora. He didn't hit me as hard as you might have expected."

"It's just that you seem completely fine. I mean, a stranger would have no clue about the day you had yesterday." It was true, Kairi looked like she was glowing. Perhaps it was because she finally got Riku off her shoulders.

"Don't worry about it. I'm okay, you have nothing to worry about."

Sora smiled. "Fine, if you say that you're okay, I'll believe you." Sora patted her on the back, and then his eyes widened. "Um, Kai..."

"What is it?"

"Don't freak out, but there's a huge spider on your back..."

Kairi's eyes widened as well, and soon she started going into a huge panic, running vigorously all over the park. "GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!"

Sora was laughing his ass off at the sight of Kairi being such a klutz. Kairi the klutz, huh? Kairi bumped her back against a tree and started scratching her back against it to hopefully kill the spider off. Once she did it for a while, she pulled the crunchy yet slimy arachnid off from behind her back and threw the dead spider away from her with disgust very quickly. Sora walked up to her, stifling his laughter. She looked terrible now, her hair was all frizzy, dirt was plastered over her pink hoodie, and she herself looked like she just got out of bed.

"You look like shit."

"Thanks for the fucking help, asshole!"

Sora shrugged with a stupid grin on his face. "I thought you were badass."

"GRR! I hate you sometimes, you know that?"

"Come on, you big baby. We need to hurry up and get to the Pallet."

"I can't go out looking like _this_!"

"You're fine, nobody's gonna notice."

Sora put his hands in his pockets and began pressing on. Kairi was irritated. Why was Sora being so inconsiderate today? Oh well, she decided to go on ahead and follow him. She noticed that he continuously kept looking at his phone and snickering at something. Why was he in such a giddy mood? They came across an ice cream stand.

"I'd like two salty sweet ice cream bars, please," Sora requested.

The girl behind the stand gave him his order with a cheerful smile. Kairi couldn't help but note that she looked too familiar for her own good. "Here you go!"

Sora took the ice cream bars and handed one to Kairi. "Thanks." They began heading off, and Kairi thought it was suspicious how Sora didn't even pay for the ice cream, but who cares? Free ice cream! Kairi stuffed the tip of it into her mouth and felt a cold sensation, it was more sweet than usual. Free ice cream tastes better! "Is it good?" asked Sora.

Kairi nodded. She took one last look at her ice cream, and noticed something odd about it, it looked more round than usual. She licked it one last time, and soon enough, the blue coating wore off and a hamburger patty was showcased, meaning the whole time she was licking a hamburger. Kairi found burgers disgusting, and she threw the burger on a stick away while covering her mouth, and scowled at Sora, since he was cracking up. Kairi quickly ran to a nearby trash can and puked her brains out. The taste of hamburger residing on her tongue was enough to do that.

_Welp, there goes my breakfast,_ Kairi thought. Sora walked up to her and patted her on the back.

"You okay?" he asked.

Kairi turned around maliciously. "You jerk! You _knew _that ice cream bar was a fake! And you know I hate hamburgers!"

Sora waved his arms defensively while holding in his laughter. "I had nothing to do with that, Kai. It's not my fault, heh heh!"

Kairi wasn't convinced. "Just what are you trying to pull anyway?"

Sora put his hands in his pockets. "Nothing." He looked behind him and saw that the bus was arriving. "C'mon, Kai! Let's hurry!" He grabbed her by the wrist, much to Kairi's surprise, and dragged her onto the bus as they headed towards the pallet.

The two sat next to each other, this time, Kairi sat by the window. Usually Sora would, but they tried to do things a little differently.

"So," Sora began. "You glad to finally break up with Riku?"

"Ugh, you just don't know. I feel like I've been waiting forever to get rid of him." _So that you can ask me out, you dumbass! _

"Yeah, I can't imagine all the crap you had to go through, being with something you barely had feelings for. You know, I was really hurt when you ended up going out with him. I was in pain the entire time..."

_Well, here's your fucking chance! Ask me out already so that I...so that I can kiss those sweet lips of yours, Sora...damn it! COME ON! Don't tell me that he doesn't love me anymore..._

"But you know, I think that whole situation made me stronger. You made me stronger, Kai. When I found out you loved me, boy was I happy. It's weird, I don't know what real love feels like, but I think whatever we feel for each other is pretty close. So I love you, Kai."

"What are you trying to say?" Is this it? Was Sora going to ask Kairi out? They could be together now, no more hiding of the feelings, now she can kiss him all she wants without having to think about Riku's pathetic ass!

Sora smiled at her. "You're a great friend, Kairi. You'll always be my best friend."

And that's when her heart broke.

So much for Sora asking her out. It seemed that his feelings for her must have been reverted back to about a month ago. He no longer loved her, and the love she held for him was only going down a road that had no ending, and it abruptly crashed into reality. Kairi held back her tears and returned his smile with a fake one. A fake smile of all levels. "T-thanks." She could hardly speak. She didn't even want to look at Sora anymore, he looked so happy yet she was so miserable, and she just wanted to curdle up and cry. She shouldn't have came here, she should have just stayed home. If she knew _this _was going to happen, she gladly would have done so.

The heartache, the pain, it can turn someone depressed. This must have been what Sora felt when she was out with Riku those two weeks. She couldn't bare to feel the pain much longer, just being with Sora and knowing that the love they once shared has all went and evaporated.

Soon enough, they came to their stop and hopped off the bus, Kairi felt like crap. No way was she going inside the Pallet now, she didn't want to be anywhere near Sora. Sora was still bright as ever, looking at the Pallet, as if looking with admiration. "Here we are," Sora said. He looked over to his auburn-haired beauty, though, she wasn't all that beautiful right now. She looked awful. "What's wrong?"

"Sora, I think I'm gonna just go home. I don't feel very good."

"Oh no, no no no no no. You're going inside the Pallet, Missy. You could use some cheering up!"

Cheering up? How could she be cheerful knowing that the one she loves doesn't love her back. That could make anyone want to just cancel out on life for a little bit, even Ms. Optimistic Kairi herself.

"I don't feel like it."

Kairi was about to walk away, but Sora took her hand, hindering her from proceeding. "You can go home later, but right now, you're going inside." He said it as if he were her father. This offended Kairi a little and she turned to him with a frown.

"You gonna make me, asshole?!"

Sora started dragging her closer and closer inside the Pallet, with some effort, seeing that Kairi was trying to use the soles of her shoes to keep Sora from continuing.

"I SAID I DON'T WANNA GO! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!"

"Quit being such a bitch," Sora yelled. Sora dragged her inside where he met up with Yuna, one of Pallet's waitresses. She also attends Strife Academy with them, she just never talked to Sora or Kairi that much.

"Hey, Sora, Kairi."

Kairi crossed her arms like a pouty little four-year old.

"Don't mind her, Yuna, she's just in her bitch mode today, heh heh."

Kairi slapped Sora in the back of his head, pretty hard. Hard enough for him to fall onto the ground below. "SHUT UP!"

Kairi marched her way over by the booth they usually sit at. Yuna helped Sora up, patting him on the back, her face sympathetic. "You okay?"

Sora rubbed the back of his head. "I'll live. I kinda deserve it," Sora admitted. Sora made his way over to the booth and sat across from Kairi, who was looking out the window. It sure was a beautiful day, wasn't it? If only Sora weren't such a clueless little prick, it would have been the perfect day. The was shining on them, and everybody outside the window looked like they were all having a good time. She however, was having one of the worst days of her life.

"You alright?" asked Sora. She ignored him. How much of an idiot could he possibly be? Kairi didn't even acknowledge his existence for the next five minutes, trying to make the whole situation as awkward and painful as it could be for him. Soon Yuna came by to take their orders. Sora ordered for her, even though she said she wasn't hungry. After ten more excruciating awkward minutes, for Sora anyway, Yuna came back with Kairi's fried rice. Sora thanked her as she walked off.

"Eat it," Sora suggested. For the first time in fifteen minutes, Kairi gave him a look. It wasn't exactly a pleasant look, but it was something. "It'll help you feel better."

Maybe eating something _would _help Kairi feel better. You never know. Kairi decided not to knock it and she picked up her chopsticks, ready to dig in. She took a whiff of the smell...it smelt awful for some strange reason, but it looked delicious. She dived her sticks into the rice and ate a chunk of it, which happened to be _extremely _tasty! It was arguably the best fried rice she had ever eaten.

"Is it good?" asked Sora with a sympathetic smile. Kairi scowled at him and continued chewing. Sora rubbed the back of his head while chuckling nervously. "Well, at least you're enjoying it."

Kairi continued eating, eating the pain away. Trying to eat the love away, but it wasn't working. She still loved/hated Sora, perhaps love and hate weren't so different from each other. Kairi continued to feed herself until she stopped, dead in her tracks. She came across a sight that horrified her and was going to haunt her for months. Inside the depths of her fried rice was a rat...and it was dead.

No wonder the fried rice smelt so terrible. She quickly ran all the way to the girls room as Sora was cracking up at her dispense. Kairi chugged out the rat covered rice into a slush of brown into the toilet. Looking at her vomit only made her want to vomit again. Kairi despised throwing up, the intense pressure of your body, the gagging, it all just makes a person feel like utter crap.

Kairi flushed the consents down the toilet and sat on top of it, crying her eyes out. This was definitely candidate for worst day of her life. All these bad things that were happening to Kairi, she hated it. She hated herself, she hated _Sora_! All she wanted was for him to love her, and he couldn't even do that. Why was he such a doofus? Why would he do this to her? She was sobbing like a little kid at this point. She could deal with the spider, she could deal with the hamburger, she could even deal with the dead rat, but the fact that Sora no longer loved her, that was what stabbed her in the heart. She never should have said hi to him that day...the first day of school. She wouldn't have to feel this pain.

After a while, she finally calmed herself down a bit. But she knew she had to get out of here. She didn't care what Sora said anymore, she couldn't be near him. Have you ever loved so much that it hurts? Well, Kairi can tell you first hand, it doesn't feel very good.

Kairi walked out of the stall and looked at herself in the mirror, her mascara made her look like a raccoon. She rubbed her eyes and began walking out of the women's restroom, where she was greeted by the happy and smiling face of Sora.

"Hey, Kairi..." Sora gave her a thumbs up. "Happy early Halloween!" And Sora ran out of the way, and soon Kairi was met with the faces of Selphie, who was dressed in the same outfit that the ice cream lady had on earlier, Hayner, Pence, Tidus, Wakka, Yuna, Yuna's friends Rikku and Paine, Xigbar, Xemnas, Demyx, Roxas, Naminé, Axel, Larxene, and Yuffie...all holding pies in their hands. Sora had one in his hand as well, with an evil smirk on his face.

"KISARAGI!" Yuffie yelled out. And with that, everyone threw their pies at Kairi with no remorse, drenching her in the apple pie delight. She'd have to shower herself for weeks, and Kairi was never going to eat pie again! They got her everywhere, making her look like a smudge of bird crap. They all laughed at her dispense, cackling at how ridiculous she looked.

Sora, while laughing, came up to Kairi and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sorry, Kai, I just couldn't resist!"

Kairi stared at him with disbelief. "You...you planned all of this?"

"Yup!" He had that goofy grin on his face again. "I planted the fake, but convincing spider on your back, I got Selphie to dress up as an ice cream girl to give you a hamburger ice cream bar, I got the dead rat and put it in your fried rice, and I called everybody to come here and make you a target for my mom's apple pies."

Kairi was in disbelief mode right now. "So...it was all a prank?"

Sora wiped the pie off of her face with a towel he had in his pocket. "Yerrp! I got ya good, huh?"

Kairi's eyes were twitching, she wanted to _kill _Sora right now for putting her through hell today! _Okay, where's my gun? _

"Well, Kairi, I know we had a little bit of a roadblock, with Riku getting in the way and all, but after putting you through all that, I gotta ask..." Sora gave her his grin. "Will you go out with me? Will you be my girlfriend?"

Kairi looked at him with widened eyes. He asked her...he really asked her! After all the pain, mentally, emotionally, and even physically, he asked her to be his girlfriend. This was what she was waiting for all day, and the moment finally arrived. Perhaps sometimes you have to go through hell to get to heaven.

"So, what do you say?" Sora said excitedly.

Kairi kicked him in the shin, then kicked him where the sun don't shine hard enough for him to fall onto his knees. "GAH!" he cried.

Everybody else winced, boy that sure looked painful. Kairi then smacked him right in the face, HARD. The hardest smack she'd ever given anybody in her entire life. Then she got on her knees and gave Sora the wettest, juiciest, and sloppiest kiss she'd ever given him before. She then pulled back and slapped him again.

"OF COURSE I'LL BE YOUR GIRLFRIEND YOU ASSHOLE!"

* * *

lol That was a fun one to write, and boy, i sure did update fast on this one. Anyway, leave some reviews, it motivates me to keep doing this and i love hearing what u guys have to say. I hope you all liked this chapter :)


	13. Life With Kairi

Chapter 13

Back to school, who knew so much could change in just one action-packed weekend?

Sora stretched as he sat up, soon seeing that Yuffie was on his bed giving him a friendly smile as she had her chin rested upon her palm.

"Good morning," she greeted.

"Morning."

"You sleep well?"

"You know I did." Sora admired the sun that lit the room, making everything just seem more and more beautiful. The world never seemed so beautiful before. Sora got up and went through his usual routine, he brushed his teeth, took a quick shower, the whole lot. Sora, Yuffie, and Roxas went downstairs for breakfast, where Aerith was busy on three different phones trying to set up appointments.

"Yes, I need you here by Thursday to fix up the room." She then talked into another phone. "What's that? Oh, of course, I need to enroll a child of mine into Strife Academy, the deadline is next Monday." She spoke into another phone. "Yes? I need to make an appointment to adopt a child."

Sora and Yuffie felt pretty bad for Aerith for having to go through so much trouble just to ensure Yuffie a happy life at home and a part of the family. They wished they could help her out in some way, but what could two teenagers do?

Soon, the doorbell rang, causing Sora to be filled with excitement, knowing exactly who it was. Sora quickly stuffed down his breakfast and grabbed his bag, heading out of the kitchen. "Later, mom!"

"Bye, sweetie!"

Sora picked up his bag and walked up to the door, excitement oozing inside his veins, his pours, and his heart. Behind this door, was his girlfriend. He had a _girlfriend_ now, never did he thought in a million years he'd have a girl to call his, or if he did get one, he'd have to settle for one that didn't suit his desires. But he got a girlfriend who could pass for a teen model. Words couldn't describe his excitement. But within the deepest of excitements resides a pinch of nervousness. He never had a girlfriend before, what was he supposed to do? Should he be smooth and romantic or should he act natural? Gah! Enough over-thinking, answer the door!

He did just that and was met face-to-face with Kairi, his _girlfriend. _The simple word was foreign on his tongue.

Before he could even greet her, he found that she locked her lips onto his. Boy, he could _definitely _get used to this. She pulled back, giving him a smile while wrapping him into a hug.

"I can't believe this! We're together! Like, _together_! This is the happiest I've been in a while," Kairi shrieked.

"Yeah, it is pretty cool, huh?" Sora said. Kairi unwrapped her arms and pecked Sora on the lips, licking her lips after backing up a little.

"Mmm, your lips are like crack..."

Sora's face went red. "Um, thanks...?" He didn't know what she meant.

Kairi rolled her eyes with a smile on her face. "What I mean is, kissing you is addicting."

"Oh..." Sora was really embarrassed. He felt like an idiot, being a noob at this whole "relationship" thing.

Kairi scowled at him. "Hey, just remember, I'm still mad at you for the stunt you pulled yesterday."

"You still on that? Jeez, it was just a joke."

Kairi sighed. "Come on, you asshole..."

She began walking towards their bus stop, Sora closed the door and followed behind. He looked back to see Yuffie and Roxas in the window teasing him, sporting kissy faces and performing pelvic thrusts. He flipped them off.

Kairi looked back at Sora with a worried expression. "What's wrong?" she asked. "You look nervous."

Sora was starting to sweat. "Is it that obvious?"

Kairi stopped walking and turned around to face him. "I know what it is, you're not used to having a girlfriend."

"Well yeah, I mean, I've never had one before."

"I'm glad to be your first."

Somebody kill Sora now. He couldn't take it, she was being so natural about this whole thing and he was just so...ugh.

"Don't worry, I'll guide you through this." Kairi wrapped her arms around Sora's and cuddled into him, giggling at the fact that he seemed so clueless.

"Um, what do I do now?"

"Nothing, just keep walking."

"Right," Sora said. They continued walking, and Sora didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. The silence eventually got awkward, and Kairi was waiting for him to say something, but he never did. Wow, he was hopeless, just gonna have to take this one step at a time. Kairi looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Wow, you really are terrible at being a boyfriend."

Sora started panicking and withdrew his arm from her, giving her a bow. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! If you wanna break up, that's okay with me! I'm sorry!"

Kairi placed her hands on him, trying to calm him down. "Relax, chill out, will you? I was only teasing."

Sora put a hand to his racing heart. "Oh, thank God..."

Kairi giggled. Before they knew it, they were at their bus stop, just as the bus arrived. They got on and sat where they usually sat, with Sora by the window.

"Kairi," Sora said, staring out the window. "Are you sure about this? About you and me?"

Kairi gave him an odd stare. "What do you mean?"

"I mean-I dunno, I just think I won't be a very good boyfriend. I'm so clueless as to what I'm supposed to do, or say..."

"Think of it like this: we're still "just friends", except now we can make out without it being weird."

"You make it sound so simple. Don't I have to be...like...romantic and stuff?"

"You don't have to be anything. Just be you, that's why I fell for you," Kairi said with a smile.

"Just be myself, huh?" Sora gave her a smirk. "Then I still think you're a bitch."

Kairi scowled. "Hey, hold your horses, I didn't say anything about getting _too _comfortable, at least not yet. I said I was still pissed off at you, remember?"

Sora's expression dropped. "Come on Kai, it was a stupid prank, get over it will you?"

"You had everybody throw pie at me." Sora rubbed the back of his head. "I can't believe you did that. You know, I was hoping that when you would ask me out, it would be at the beach or on top of the station tower."

"Hey, it was memorable, wasn't it? Things like beaches and sunsets are so cliche, I wanted to make the time we got together a time to remember, so that we can laugh back at it years later. It was only my last prank before we truly got together, okay? Look at the results, Kai, we're together now. So please get over it."

Kairi crossed her arms. "Fine..."

"So, you forgive me?"

Kairi smirked at him. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Sora was starting to get irritated. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

Kairi tapped her chin. "I'll have to think of some way to punish you...I know! You won't be able to kiss these lips," she said while circulating her lips with her index finger. "for the the rest of the day."

"What?! Why?!"

"_That's _why," she said in referring to his reaction. "That's your punishment. You got a problem?"

"Heck yeah I got a prob-" Before he could finish his sentence, she pinched him on the cheek while giving him a devilish grin.

"What was that? What were you saying?"

"NYAAAAAAHH! Nothing, nothing!"

She let go, letting out a giggle. "Good." Kairi moved her lips towards him and kissed Sora on the cheek. "Until three o' clock, that's all you're getting from me."

"But that _sucks_!"

Kairi couldn't help but laugh at Sora's immature behavior. She cuddled up with him and rested her head on his shoulder, which he didn't really mind. He placed his arm around her shoulder, starting to feel natural about this whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing.

"You know, even though you're clueless at it right now, you're already a better boyfriend than Riku ever was."

"And why's that?"

"Because you're Sora."

* * *

Yuffie was kicking it in Sora's room, watching some boring TV show about cooking, which she wasn't paying attention to at all. She was only basking in the glory of having a home. She couldn't help but wonder what school was like though, she couldn't wait until she got to go and try it out for herself. Someone knocked on the door.

"It's open," Yuffie called out.

Aerith popped her head in Sora's room. "Hi, sweetie!"

"Hey!"

"Was just coming by to let you know that I'm off to work, over at the hospital in Tram Cannon."

"Okay. Be sure to hurry back, alright?"

Aerith giggled. "Alright." She was about to leave.

"Hey, Ms. Hikari..."

Aerith opened the door again. "Yes, dear?"

"Is it okay if I call you mom?"

"Of course you can," Aerith responded. Yuffie hopped off the bed and ran up to Aerith, giving her a hug.

"Then I'll see you when you get back...mom." Aerith hugged her back. Yuffie was never able to see a mother off before, she never met hers, so this moment truly was special to her. Not once in her life did she have a mother...

Aerith patted Yuffie on the head. "Bye-bye, for now. Gosh, I feel kind of bad for having to leave you here all by yourself."

"It's fine. I can handle myself, don't you worry about me."

"Okay, I'll see you when I get back." Aerith left with that final note. Yuffie plopped back on the bed, wondering what to do.

What to do.

What to do...

Soon enough, the house phone rang, Yuffie answered it, and it was Kairi.

* * *

Sora was never more embarrassed in his entire life.

He and Kairi were walking down the school hallways, and they were holding _hands. _Now Sora wouldn't have minded if the situation were different, but everybody was giving the new couple strange looks. Girls were looking with envy while guys were fuming with jealousy. No way did Sora Hikari obtain Kairi _Lockhart. _One person that got his attention was Riku, who was giving them a look that one couldn't determine what it meant. It was a casual face, as if he looked pissed off yet oddly calm. Sora wasn't intimidated, though, he'd fight Riku if it meant he'd be able to stay with Kairi.

Kairi looked over to him with a bright smile. "What's the matter?"

"Did you not notice all the stares we're getting?" Sora then noticed the seductive looks a couple of girls were giving him. "Jeez..."

"I'm used to it," Kairi responded. Kairi had always been the center of attention while walking down the hall. She was the most attractive and most popular girl in the school after all, everybody liked her and wanted to know her on a personal level. Sora knew this, but why was it that he never paid it any attention before? Was it because of the fact that since they were never together, he was never really a target? Never really a threat? But now that they were together, he had become a target and the center of attention, it was making him sweat bullets.

Selphie ran up to Kairi, chipper as always. "Hey Kairi! Hey Sora!"

Sora waved at her.

"Hi Selph," Kairi greeted back.

"I see you two are getting along nicely," Selphie said, referring to their interlaced hands. Selphie put her hands on her hips. "Damn it, Kai! How come you keep ending up with all the cute boys in the school?"

Sora blushed at that remark. When did Selphie ever think he was cute?

"This coming from the girl who in the beginning of the year said she wouldn't even put Sora in her top twenty for cute boys in the school, right?"

"Hey, I was being dumb back then, alright? Sora really _is _cute! I can't believe I never saw it before!" Selphie got up in Sora's face and pointed accusingly at him. "If you were more friendly back then, I would have seen it sooner."

Sora chuckled nervously, Selphie definitely wasn't shy, huh? Sora wasn't used to this...being _known_. He was the fly on the wall for such a long time, this was all new to him. Having the attention of all the other students, having friends like Tidus, Hayner, and Wakka, or being loved by someone like Kairi, it was such a new world for him.

Selphie hooked her arm with Sora's free one, giving him a seductive look, similar to the look she used to give to Riku. "Speaking of which, if things don't work out between you and Kairi, you can always come to me, you know..."

Sora was about to go berserk. "I'll be sure to keep it under consideration," he lied. He didn't dislike Selphie, but she just wasn't his type.

Kairi squinted at Selphie threateningly. "Hold it Selphie, he's _mine _now. You're a little late to the party, so get your hands off of him." Selphie stuck her tongue out at Kairi as she let go of Sora.

Before he knew it, Sora was forced into a noogie by none other than Wakka.

"What's up, man? How's it going with you and your girl, ya?"

With Wakka, Tidus couldn't be too far behind. "Hey, Sora! How's it goin'? How's it feel to finally be of relevance in the school?"

Sora broke out of Wakka's grasp and gave Tidus a smirk. "Just fine, thanks, but it just doesn't feel right without seeing your face, Paris Hilton."

"Oh _ha ha_," Tidus responded sarcastically with a chortle.

Kairi came up to Sora and tapped her finger on his shoulder. "Come on, Sora, we gotta get to class."

"Oh, right. Class..." After all this excitement, Mr. Newburn's was going to be the definition of a _drag. _But it would be okay, as long as he had Kairi with him. They began walking to class, waving to everyone else, before Selphie came up and locked her arms with Sora and Kairi.

"Don't forget about me, guys!" She gave Sora that seductive look of hers again. "Especially you, Sora," she winked. Kairi thought this was all too familiar. Hm...

_"Don't forget about me, guys!" the brunette gave Riku a seductive look, "Especially you, Riku," she winked. _

Oh yeah, that's right. Kairi sighed, Selphie may never change.

They made it to Mr. Newburn's eventually and sat in their usually seats, Sora next to Kairi, Selphie in the middle, and Riku in the row in front of Selphie. Riku wasn't making eye contact with anybody in the room.

"Okay, class, let's begin." And thus began the dreadful and boring lesson of the day, courtesy of Mr. Newburn.

Kairi groaned and slumped onto her desk, which Sora chuckled upon. His gaze fell upon Riku, who looked absolutely awful. Sora was starting to feel bad for the poor guy. Sora knew he took Kairi away from him, just like how he took Kairi away from Sora. It was a big tug of war between them and Kairi was the rope, and it wasn't fair to put her in the middle like that. Eventually the rope gave in, and Sora won.

But what was Sora supposed to do? The heart wants what the heart wants, right? And Kairi's heart for whatever reason just wanted Sora, and his heart wanted her. There's nothing he could do about that, but he didn't want Riku to feel bad. Nobody should have to suffer, not even a jerk like Mr. Macho himself.

The bell finally rang, allowing class to end. Kairi gave Sora a kiss on the cheek before they departed. "I'll see you third period," she said as she walked off.

"See ya," he said with a smile. Man, even though he felt bad for Riku, he had to admit, having Kairi as his girlfriend was an _awesome _feeling. Sora looked over his shoulder and saw Riku walking off to class. Should he say something? It might be kind of awkward, but it's the least he could do. Who knows what kind of misery he could have caused for Riku?

Sora ran up to Riku and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey..."

Riku stopped in his tracks. He had his hands in his pockets, and he looked up at the ceiling. He didn't know what to feel, or what to do. Here was the boy, the boy who took his girl away from him. He said nothing would get in his way, but this boy did. How? How did Sora get in his way?

"Hey," was all Riku could do to respond.

"Um," Sora removed his hand. "Are...you okay?"

"Why do you care?"

"You're feeling bad aren't you? You feel lost, trapped in a world that feels like it doesn't care about you, and why your purpose is in existence? You don't know. That feeling to know that someone you love doesn't love you back, it stings, doesn't it?"

"Shut up."

"That's how I felt when you and Kairi were dating, you know. I felt like nothing else in the world mattered anymore, and that I should just be out of you guys' way, and then Kairi could be happy. But I also hated the fact that she couldn't be happy with me, I wanted to be that person who gave her the feels, you know? Turns out I was, heh heh."

Riku growled. Okay, maybe Sora should have kept that last comment to himself.

"My point is, things will get better, okay? I hate seeing you look so depressed, Riku."

"Why the hell do you care about me? I'm the one who threatened you, I'm the one who took Kairi, I'm the one who sent those dancers to beat you up, I'm the one who made your life miserable!"

"Wait, wait, wait, so that's what happened that night? Those dancers beat me up when the lights cut off? Huh, I kept wondering what happened, too..."

Riku turned around with a look of disbelief. "You mean you didn't know what happened all this time?!"

Sora shrugged, a carefree smile on his face. "Sorry, but it was really dark."

"Jeez, you're so stupid. I don't know what Kairi sees in you."

Sora rubbed the back of his head. "To tell you the truth, I don't either. But I'm not complaining, she's amazing, you know."

"Are you trying to make me feel better or rub it in my face?"

"Maybe a little bit of both," Sora said with a chuckle.

"You're doing a shitty job at it."

"Sorry, sorry. It's just...I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry for taking Kairi back. I don't want you to be upset or go into a depression. So do me a favor, and...and smile, okay?" He said that with Donald and Goofy in mind.

"After all the crap I've done to you, you still want to try and be my friend? After all the crap I've done, you still think we're on good enough terms to even fucking _speak _to each other? Are you insane?"

Sora gave him a melancholic look. "I just don't want you to be sad, that's all."

Riku shook his head. "You're pathetic, you know that?" And with that, Riku punched Sora right in the face. The bell rang a while ago, so nobody was there to see it, and Sora fell onto the floor, clutching his eye in pain.

...

"Hold still," said the nurse. She was dabbing alcohol onto Sora's black eye.

Sora winced from the pain. It definitely stung, and his eye was swollen like wood that came into contact with water.

When Kairi heard about Sora being sent to the nurses office, she came as quickly as she could. She was excused from class, because even the _teachers_ knew of Kairi and Sora's relationship. Yeah, it was that major in the school. Petty? Yes, but nobody cared. After scolding Sora and fussing over him, Kairi finally allowed the nurse to do her job. Kairi was currently leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed, impatiently waiting for the nurse to get done treating her boyfriend.

"You sure you wanna go back to class, kid?" asked the nurse.

Sora didn't seem fazed by any of this. He was the same cheerful Sora that he always had been lately. He gave her a smile. "I'm sure, one lousy black eye isn't going to stop me from getting through the rest of the day."

Kairi smiled at Sora. Unlike Riku, she actually had _respect _for Sora.

Sora got up from the chair, thanked the nurse, giving her his blessings. He then left with Kairi. She cuddled into him as he placed an arm around her as they headed to the cafeteria. It was lunch time after all.

"So, what happened?" asked Kairi.

Sora gave her a worried-looking eyes. "Promise not to freak out."

"I won't. Just tell me, okay?"

"For real, don't freak out. Don't make a big deal out of it."

"I won't."

Sora breathed in deeply and exhaled. He finally opened his mouth and spoke, "It was Mr. Highwind."

"Mr. Highwind? The P.E teacher?"

"Yep, he got mad at me for not returning one of his cigarette cartons and he just made a big deal about it, that bastard. Someone should really get him fired, you know."

Kairi raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Great, now tell me the real reason."

Sora sighed. "Fine, fine, you win. Truth is...it was Riku."

"Riku?" Riku did this? Now _that _she believed.

"Yeah, I was trying to make him feel better, but he didn't exactly like what I had to say. I guess I can't blame him, though."

"You were only trying to help, Sora, he had no right to do that! Ooh, I'm gonna freaking kill him..."

"Don't do that. Could you...could you maybe just talk to him? Make him feel better? He won't listen to me."

"No way! I'm gonna give 'im a piece of my mind! I'm not gonna let him just punch my man and get away with it!"

Hearing her call him her "man" was making Sora feel all giddy inside, but he decided not to let Kairi know that. "Please, Kai? He's really hurting, I should know better than anyone, you know..."

Kairi gave him an understanding look. "I'm sorry for putting you through that."

"Not really your fault," he said. "Back on topic, please? Just-cheer him up, okay?"

Kairi nodded. "Sure, anything for you. But I don't get it, I mean, he's been the biggest dick to you, so why are you caring for him?"

That actually wasn't a bad question. He didn't even know. He knew what kind of torment Riku must have been going through, he knew what kind of pain he had to be suffering from, but was that enough to gain Sora's sympathy? No, maybe it was because he just wanted to help.

"I don't know," Sora answered honestly.

The couple made it to the cafeteria, got their lunches, and sat at a table. Eventually, the rest of the gang eventually showed up.

"Whoa, Sora!" Hayner said. "What the hell happened to you? You look like a blow fish."

"It's fine," Sora answered.

Olette sat down next to Sora, and took a look at his injured eye. She placed her hands on his face and began examining the eye with caution, making sure not to irritate it. "Wow, that looks really bad..."

"I know," Sora agreed.

"What happened?" asked Pence.

"Um..." Sora didn't want to tell them it was Riku. Things would get way too out of proportion. Rumors would arouse and stupid stories like 'Riku totally kicked Sora's ass!' would be tossed around.

"He fell and slipped on the janitor's sponge, but his eye came into contact with a doorknob to one of the classrooms," Kairi covered for him.

"That's it?" asked Tidus, a little disappointed at the lack of an interesting story.

"Uh, yeah," Sora answered.

Tidus and Wakka burst out into laughter.

"Really, man? _That's _what happened?" Wakka said while cackling.

"What a doofus!" Tidus said.

Sora rolled his eyes and chose to ignore his obnoxious buddies. Soon enough, Selphie came walking up to the table with her lunch in hand, a confident smile on her face. She noticed Sora's swollen eye and quickly tossed her lunch into Tidus' mouth, causing him to shut up from laughing. Selphie ran up to Sora and gave him a big hug. "Sora! What happened?!"

Great, now Selphie had developed feelings for him. Could this day get any weirder? "Nothing," he answered. "I just tripped and fell."

"Oh, my poor baby..." Selphie cooed.

Kairi began growling out of anger, her eyes fierce. "Selphie, if you don't get your _fucking _hands off of him..."

Selphie reluctantly did so, putting her hands up in defense. She took her lunch from Tidus' mouth and sat down in the seat next to him. Tidus gave Selphie a glare before standing up. He walked up to Olette. "Hey, Olette, I don't wanna be rude or anything, but you think you could sit somewhere else for just a second? I gotta talk to Sora real quick."

"Sure, I don't mind." Olette picked up her food and went to sit next to Hayner, who was on the other side of the fairly big table. Tidus sat down and Sora gave him his full attention.

"What's up, Tidus?"

"You mind doing me a favor?"

"Depends."

"Well, you know that waitress from yesterday? What was her name?"

"You mean Yuna? She goes to this school, man."

"I know, but I don't have any classes with her. But uh, hey, you think you can hook me up? Introduce us at the Pallet or something?"

Sora did not have time for this kind of stuff. He didn't run a dating service, he had other things to worry about, like his own relationship with Kairi, everybody suddenly giving him all this attention, Yuffie getting fitted into the house properly, his grades, his job, and so on. But maybe one little introducing wouldn't be too big of a hassle.

"Fine, whatever. We can go after school tomorrow if you want."

"Aw, thanks, dude! You totally rock!" Tidus went back to eating his lunch.

Sora rolled his eyes. In all honesty, he didn't feel like doing that kind of stuff right now. A group of girls sitting at a table behind theirs were giggling and chuckling, and they were looking directly at Sora. Sora noticed this and was caught off guard. He looked to another table, where _another _group of girls seemed to be eyeing him.

"Jeez..." Sora groaned. Sora turned to Tidus. "Hey, since when did these girls start paying me so much attention?"

Tidus made an eyebrow curl. "Dude, they've always been looking at you like that."

"Since when?"

"Since you became friends with Kairi in the beginning of the school year," Tidus answered casually. "That's when people started noticing you. I mean, we didn't know who the idiot was who was always with Kairi."

Sora glared at him, but Kairi, who overheard their conversation, decided to butt in. "What he means, Sora, is that I gave you confidence to be more yourself in the school. Confidence looks good on people. It brings out their best qualities, and it makes one look a lot more attractive."

Sora rolled his eyes. "Aren't you the arrogant one?"

Kairi patted him on the cheek. "I'll take that as a 'thank you'."

Sora sighed in defeat and continued eating his lunch, listening to whatever conversation that was going on at their table. Soon, someone tapped Sora on the shoulder from behind. Sora turned around to find some guy who didn't look very familiar at all.

"Sora Hikari, you've been reported wanted to have been met with outside."

That was odd. Who would want to see Sora out there, and for what? Sora decided it wouldn't be any harm in doing it, so he got up and took Kairi's hand. "Whatever, come on, Kairi."

"Nuh-uh, Miss Lockhart stays," the guy said a little harshly.

Sora let go of Kairi's hand. "I can't bring any friends?" asked the brunet.

"You cannot bring any female friends."

"Fine, come on, Tidus."

Tidus got up and dusted himself off, ready to see whatever it was that was going on.

"Let's go, Hikari," the guy said, tugging on Sora's arm as he walked off.

"Hey! Watch it!" But the person's grip was rather tight. Sora couldn't get out of his grasp, so he just went with the flow.

Sora had a bad feeling he was going to regret heading to wherever this weird guy was leading him. Eventually he and Tidus were led to the back of the school, where a bunch of teenage boys were waiting for Sora, their arms crossed and their faces scowling at Mr. Hikari himself. It was quite unnerving, and what was the point of this little get-together?

"Um...what's up, guys?" asked Sora.

"So this is the infamous Sora Hikari, huh?" said the boy who was the leader of this little clique. He had short silver hair and sported reading glasses on his eyes.

"So what if I am?" asked Sora, getting a little irritated.

"You've been talked about a lot lately, haven't you? You're making your way into relevance within the school, and the girls here are all going crazy over you, for whatever reason. But there's one thing about you I cannot condone, and it's the fact that you're dating KAIRI LOCKHART!"

Sora was taken back by the sudden yelp from the creepy boy. He looked back at Tidus to see if he could get some answers as to what was going on, but Tidus didn't have a clue either and only shrugged. "What's your problem, man? What the hell is going on here, anyway?"

The leader pointed at Sora accusingly. "Sora Hikari, we are the members of the Kairi Lockhart fan club! And we will NOT settle for such impervious people like you infesting their will upon our dear sweet, beautiful Kairi!"

Sora should have saw this coming. He forgot about Kairi's stupid fan club. The rules with these fan clubs was that if they couldn't get the girl, nobody else could have either. Just a bunch of dorks who needed to get a life.

"So, what's the ish?" asked Sora.

"Your punishment, that's what," answered the leader. "I'm Istuki Hurunada, leader of the KLFCSFP!"

Tidus raised a brow. "The leader of the wha..."

Istuki sighed. "The Kairi Lockhart Force Club Salvation Force Program."

Sora was on the verge of combustion if this idiocy continued.

"Wait, why are there two "Forces" in the name?" asked Tidus. "That sounds pretty stupid."

"Arrr...quiet!" Istuki yelled. He then quickly peered over to one of his assistants. "Mental note, edit the club name."

The assistant nodded while writing on a notebook he had.

"So, what's the problem again?" asked Sora.

"ARE YOU MENTAL?! IF WE CAN'T HAVE KAIRI, **NOBODY CAN!**" Istuki replied.

The rest of the heart-stricken losers held up posters and signs with Kairi's face on them. "If you're with Kairi, you shall be banned! If we cannot have her, no one can! If you're with Kairi, you shall be banned! If we cannot have her, no one can!" they chanted repeatedly.

"Did this happen when Riku was going out with her?" asked Sora.

"Pfft, no! Riku would kill us!" Istuki responded with fear in his eyes.

"Boy, what a bunch of losers..." Tidus mumbled.

Sora face palmed himself. "I think you guys might be able to get some girlfriends if you guys weren't so..."

"Weren't so what?"

Sora tried to find words that didn't seem too harsh. "LAME!" Tidus finished for him.

Istuki adjusted his glasses. "Lame you say? Is that so? Well, if that's the case Mr. Hikari..." Itsuki pulled out a pain-ball gun. "ATTACK!"

"Wait, wait!" Sora said with his arms up. "Tidus said it, not me!"

But they ignored him. The group of hopeless, lifeless, and pathetic male teenagers all shot at Sora with their paint-ball guns, turning Sora into a rainbow.

"HOW'DYA LIKE THAT, EH HIKARI?!" Itsuki sneered.

The paint balls were fairly painful, and Sora decided to run away before they started to seriously start hurting him. What was that all about? What a bunch of losers. Look at the trouble Kairi's caused him, even when she wasn't trying, that girl...

Tidus caught up to him, trying to look concerned but it was obvious he was stifling his laughter. "Um..." was all he could say.

"GRR! TIDUS!" Sora grabbed Tidus by the arms and started shaking him back and forth. "I'M GONNA MURDER YOU!"

* * *

Sora made his way back to class. He wasn't wearing his jacket, since the paint balls had only gotten on it, and not him, most fortunately, so he stuffed the rainbow jacket in his locker. He was now only sporting a white button down shirt with short sleeves, which was a rare sight to see for the students in attendance.

Sora waited for Kairi in the back where their bus stop usually was. Sora saw no point in going back to class unexcused, so he decided he'd skip class today and just give the teacher some bullshit excuse tomorrow. Soon Kairi came running out of the school, but relief doused itself upon her when she saw Sora. Kairi ran up to him and kicked Sora in the shin.

"AGH! What the hell!" Sora cried.

"You idiot! You had me worried about you! I thought you might have gotten beat up or something!"

"So your solution to the problem was to kick me in the shin?"

Kairi smiled. "I'm just glad you're alright. Let's just go home, okay? Being at school has caused a lot of problems for you."

"Psh, no kidding. Let's get home, it's the only place I feel like we can be alone," Sora said.

"Too true," Kairi agreed. "I want to be able to kiss those lips of yours in private, you know?" Kairi said with a wink. Sora blushed, it always drove him crazy when Kairi flirted with him like that.

"Y-yeah, um, let's just go," he stuttered.

The two made their way on the bus, sitting at their usual spot. Sora couldn't help but notice two boys sitting across from them looking at their direction anxiously. Sora tried to ignore it, until he heard their conversation.

"Dude, you see that girl over there? The one with the red hair?"

"I know, man, she's _so _hot! Like...oh my _god _she's so hot!"

"I'd totally bang her, dude...I'm gonna ask her out on a date."

"You don't even know her, besides, what about that guy she's sitting next to?"

"Who cares? He's probably her brother or something, and besides, what the hell's he gonna do?"

Oh hell nah.

The guy who said he was going to ask Kairi out came walking up to them, making sure not to trip over himself.

"Hey there," he said in his scratchy "dude" voice.

Kairi noticed someone was talking to her. She turned to the guy, but also noticed Sora looked like he was about to explode in rage. "Oh, hi. Can I help help you?"

"Nothing, I was just wondering if you'd-"

"Hold on, one second," Sora interrupted. Sora leaned over to Kairi and gave her a kiss. He felt like they were overdoing their kisses but this one had a purpose, it was so that he could show off in front of the "dude" who thought he was getting something from Kairi. Kairi thought it was weird, but she didn't care. She was always ready for Sora's kisses, so she kissed back, not caring if the guy was looking at them with wide eyes at the moment.

They pulled apart and Sora gave the guy a triumphant smirk, but Kairi just laid back in her seat looking lovestruck. She gave let a sigh and looked as if she were high on marijuana. "What were you saying?" she asked the guy.

"Uh, I was just gonna say your hair is really pretty..." The guy tucked his hands in his pockets and sat down next to his friend again.

"Dude, sucks," his friend said. "But hey, I warned you, I told you that was probably her boyfriend or something."

"Quiet," the other boy demanded.

Sora felt kind of bad for having to make the guy feel so bad, but it needed to be done. He was going prove to all the people who saw him as no threat to gaining Kairi that he was now, in fact, the obstacle in their way.

Sora and Kairi eventually made their way home, laughing and cackling all the while. Sora agreed to call Kairi later, but for right now, he needed a good nap, after the odd day he had today, he needed it. When he made his way inside his house, he saw Yuffie sitting over at the kitchen table, using two pencils to tap on the edge of the table as if she were some kind of drummer. She was making a beat that was actually pretty catchy.

"Hey, what's up?" Sora asked.

Yuffie turned to him looking a little surprised. She didn't even hear him come in. "Hiya!" she greeted back.

"Whatcha doin' there?" Sora asked.

"I'm baking a cake," she answered. Sora heard a timer go off. "Ooh, it's done!"

Yuffie skipper over to the oven and pulled out what looked to be a chocolate cake. She set it down on the table and cut a piece of it, putting it on a plate. She handed it to Sora. "Try it!"

Sora took his fork and stabbed it inside of the cake, cutting a triangle out with it. He placed it in his mouth and...it tasted so...so...

Awful!

It was probably the worst cake he had ever tasted in his life, but Yuffie was looking so enthusiastic, he couldn't just let her down. He forced himself to swallow it. "This is really good," he lied. "But uh, what's in this cake anyway?"

Yuffie shrugged. "Toothpaste, hot dogs, eggs, cake mix, that kind of stuff," she said casually.

Sora had a "wtf?!" look on his face. Who the heck uses hot dogs and toothpaste to bake a cake? Sora felt the regurgitation begin to bloat up, and he quickly raced upstairs into the bathroom, throwing up with force. It looked disgusting, almost as bad as it tasted. Sora flushed it down and sat on the toilet. He saw Yuffie walk in with a smile on her face.

"Just wanna let you know that that cake wasn't my doing," she admitted.

"What are you talking about?" asked Sora.

"Oh, well, I made it! Don't get that wrong! But Kairi called on the house phone earlier, and nobody else was home at the time, so I picked it up. Kairi told me that she wanted me to make something that would make you throw up. She said to consider it payback for the prank you pulled on her yesterday. It was fun, but jeez man!"

Sora looked at her with disbelief in his eyes. Soon, Aerith peered into the bathroom. "Oh, hi Sora! Did you just get home?"

Kairi...that little bitch.

Sora nodded to his mother and got up, looking as if he were the walking dead, making his way out of the house. His mother looked worried.

"Is he okay?" Aerith asked.

"Tee hee! Don't worry, he's fine," Yuffie answered.

Sora made his way over to the Lockhart's house, ringing the doorbell. Eventually Naminé answered the door and gave Sora a smile.

"Hey, Sora. What brings you over here?" Naminé asked.

"Kairi, where is she?" he asked.

"Um, upstairs in her room. Why?"

"Can I come in? It'll just be for a second."

"A second, huh?" Naminé said with a grin. "You sure about that?"

"I'm pretty sure."

"Don't do anything you'll regret," Naminé teased. She was well aware of the status of Sora and Kairi at the moment.

"Trust me, we won't be doing anything like that for the rest of the day."

Sora trudged his way into the house and upstairs. He found Kairi's room and knocked on the door.

"Just a minute!" he heard from the other side of the door. Soon enough, Kairi opened the door in her pjs, a sky blue tank top and some short shorts, it was what she usually wore to bed. She was looking at Sora with surprise. She thought it was Naminé who knocked. "Oh, hey. What's up?"

"Nothing, nothing," Sora answered. "But by any chance, did you call Yuffie and tell her to make me a cake?"

Kairi's eyes widened. "Oops, I forgot about that. I was going to call her back to cancel it, but...heh heh, sorry. But it serves you right for what you did!"

Sora chuckled, a little maliciously. He walked into Kairi room, causing the auburn-haired girl to back up frighteningly.

"Uh...Sora, what's going on, buddy?" she asked.

Sora shut her door and locked it, looking back at Kairi with an evil glare. "Nothing, Kai...we're just gonna have some _fun._"

Kairi gulped. "Uh, what kind of fun are we talking?"

Kairi hoped he was talking about..._it. _She wasn't ready to have sex yet and she didn't want her first time to be raped by Sora. That would ruin her sex life forever.

Sora gave her an evil smirk. "The Sora Hikari kind." And with that, Sora toppled onto her, and she looked scared as all hell. What was he going to do? Was this it? Was she really about to get raped by Sora? It was just a cake, Sora! Calm down!

But instead of groping her or kissing her neck, he only twiddled his thumbs down her stomach, tickling her all over. It was a tickle attack, a harmless spout of revenge. Kairi couldn't contain her laughter, all she could do was laugh like a clown on acid as Sora continued his rampage of tickling. It got so bad to the point she could hardly even breathe, but Sora didn't stop. Serves _her _right for making Yuffie bake him that nasty, disgusting, and vile cake.

Kairi was about to pass out from the lack of breathing room, and that's when Sora finally stopped. Kairi was breathing hard, trying to catch her breathe. When she did, she noticed Sora was unlocking her door. Disappointment became apparent across her face.

"That's it? You're leaving?" Kairi asked.

"Yup," Sora said with a triumphant smile.

Kairi got off of her bed and ran to Sora, tugging on his arm. "Don't go, why are you leaving so soon?"

"It's my payback," Sora answered.

"I thought tickling me was the payback."

"Nah, that was just 25% of it. I'm gonna leave, and in a minute, you'll miss me and want me to come back."

"Tch, whatever," Kairi let go of his arm. "I don't need you. Go on, scram, I don't want you here anyway."

Sora only smiled and left, she could hear his shoes clumping their way down the stairs. Kairi sat on her bed, turning on her TV. Jeez, since when did Sora turn into such cocky little brat? He just told her that she'd miss him, what an asshole, right? She wasn't going to miss him, not after the tormenting tickle he just displayed on her body. She could still feel his fingers all over her, her belly, her thighs, her shoulders, he was just going on a rampage with his hands.

Why would she miss something like that? Or someone like that? Jeez, what a weird relationship they were having so far. She never thought that things would get this weird when she first met Sora, but boy, a lot can happen in just two and a half months. She was just looking forward to summer, so that she could spend more time with Sora when there was no school interfering. School has been such a drag, and still there was couple more months to go. It was kind of depressing to think about actually. Maybe Sora would have been able to comfort her. Wait, wait, why was she thinking about Sora?!

She shook her head, trying to get rid of those thoughts and tried focusing on the TV. Ugh, it was some boring show about elephants. It was really nauseating after a while. Sora would have been able to liven things up. "Gah! Stop thinking about him!"

Kairi decided she needed something to drink to clear her mind. She went downstairs, passing the living room, where Axel was sitting on the couch flipping through channels on the remote. Why did he always watch TV down here anyway? He had a TV in his room. Whatever, Kairi could never understand her idiotic brother. She went into the kitchen and opened the fridge, taking out some red juice they had stored in there. She poured it into a glass and let the liquid splash into her mouth, gulping it down.

Boy, that juice was refreshing. It tasted so good, it reminded her of Sora's kisses...FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKK! She couldn't stop thinking about Sora! Why did he have to leave?! She couldn't believe it, he was right! He must have cast some sick, twisted spell on her, but for whatever reason...

She _really _wanted him to come back.

* * *

Yuppz.

And to ImaguestIguess, the one who reviewed it recently, if you're reading this I just want you to know that making Kairi feel bad on the bus wasn't Sora's intention, so he didn't know she was feeling miserable. Just wanted to put that out there that Sora isn't a terrible person lol

Leave a review! PLEASE!


	14. What is Love?

Okay, so this was suggested by SiChri, who suggested taking a break from the main story and seeing a day in the life of Roxas and Naminé, which I thought was a great idea, so here it is! I also wanted you guys to see Roxas' school life and shtuff, so yea…

* * *

Chapter 14

"Come on, get up! It's time for school!" yelled a familiar voice.

Roxas was soundly asleep in his bed on a Thursday morning. His eyes began to slowly flutter themselves open, as he saw Yuffie looking at him with an excited glare.

"Come on! Wake up, will you?! Breakfast is ready, and mom said to hurry downstairs!" she cried.

Roxas sat up, feeling his spine crack a good four times as he did so. He got up and stretched, not really wanting to partake in the day ahead, simply because he wanted to sleep. He noticed Yuffie, she was wearing a white T-Shirt and some pajama pants. Must have been one of the outfits she bought the other day, since it didn't look very familiar.

"Come on, lazy! Rise and shine!"

Yuffie seemed to be on full tank 24/7. Even after she slept. It would only take her ten minutes before she'd be right back to the way she was before. Roxas couldn't help but envy her—for she didn't have to go to school today.

Yuffie skipped out of Roxas' room and went downstairs, ready for breakfast. Roxas didn't feel like taking a shower, so he just "washed up" in the bathroom, which consisted of him rubbing a rag with soap and water over his body, throwing on some deodorant and some cologne to help the smell become a slight facade.

He walked downstairs to see Yuffie, still in her sleeping attire, and Sora, who was fully dressed and ready to go to school. Roxas plumped into the chair that was across from Yuffie.

"You look terrible," Sora said with a sneer. "Didn't get much sleep?"

"No," Roxas admitted. "I was staying up all night thinking about my stupid class project. It's killing me, dude. If I don't get an A on it, I'm screwed for the semester. Like, I can't get a B, or I'll be screwed."

"Jeez, your grades are that bad?" asked Yuffie.

"Only in English class. I suck in that class." Roxas began to whisper to them so that his mother didn't hear him, since she was finishing up their breakfast from behind him. "See, if I don't pass this quarter with at least a D, I'll have to go to summer school."

Yuffie tapped her chin in thought. "Wait, so you only have to get a D to at least pass in schools?"

Roxas shrugged. "That's the way it is."

"D's get diplomas," Sora said with a smirk.

"Yeah, but they don't get degrees," Roxas pitched in. "Plus, I got a date with Nam tonight."

"You sound as if you're disappointed," Sora noticed.

"Don't get me wrong, I love Naminé, it's just that I really want to just go home today and take a nap, but we're going to this restaurant that she's been _begging _me to take her to, and I…I can't let her down."

"I'm sure she'd understand," Yuffie reasoned.

"Maybe, but…" Roxas said, not finishing his sentence.

Yuffie turned to Sora. "Hey, do you have a date with Kairi tonight?"

"I do, actually," he said as he leaned back in his chair. "We're headed over the mental institution to say hi to a friend of ours, and then tomorrow we're going to Sunset Hill."

"Gosh," Yuffie pouted. "So you both are gonna be out today and tomorrow? That means I'll have to be _bored._ "Yuffie turned to Sora. "Can I come with you and Kairi to Sunset Hill tomorrow? I wanna see it for myself!"

"Um, you think me and Naminé could tag along too? That sounds like a nice spot to chill."

Sora rubbed the back of his head nervously. Kairi had told him that she was looking forward to it being just the two of them, but these guys were asking him to come along.

"Uh…er, I'll have to think about it, guys. I was kinda hoping that it would have just been me and Kairi, you know?"

"I understand, but just consider it, 'Kay?" Yuffie asked with her puppy dog face, which Sora was having a hard time resisting.

Aerith placed their breakfast on the table. "Okie dokie, here comes breakfast!"

Aerith placed their plates on the table, which was just the usual bacon, eggs, and waffles, but boy did it look yummy. They dove into their food, pleasing their empty stomach. Soon the doorbell rang, leaving the three siblings confused as to who it could be. It definitely wasn't Kairi; she would come a little later than this.

"Ooh! That must be him!" Aerith called out as she skipped over to the door.

Him? Who was "him"? The three were getting a little agitated; don't tell them that some guy was here to fuck their mother!

Aerith opened the door, and it was only Cid Highwind, the P.E teacher from Strife Academy. He was wearing a white T-Shirt that had stains on it, some goggles that were above his forehead, his pants were blue and baggy, and he had an orange waistband wrapped around him (yeah, the same outfit he wore in the first KH game.). He had a toolbox in his right hand and a ladder under his left armpit.

"Howdy, Aerith! I see yer still lookin' mighty fine as usual," Cid flirted.

Aerith blushed slightly. "Oh, stop."

"Mr. Highwind?" asked Sora. Roxas was lost, who was the scary old man hitting on his mother, and why was he here?

"Well well, if it ain't my good-fer-nothin' student, Sora Hikari!"

"Nice to see you too, Mr. Highwind," Sora said without enthusiasm.

"Sarcastic, huh? Whelp, you can give me two hundred push-ups tomorrow since you wanna be a smart ellic!" Cid said.

Sora's shoulders slumped in disbelief as his brother and sister only giggled.

"He's your gym teacher?" asked Yuffie.

"Unfortunately," Sora mumbled, making sure Cid didn't hear him. He didn't need to be doing five hundred push-ups tomorrow.

"Sora, Mr. Highwind and I go a long way back. He used to fix things for _my _mother all the time when I was your age," Aerith explained.

"That's right!" Cid said. "Yer grand mama was the best customer I ever had; she always paid me in cigarettes."

"You're going to pay him in cigarettes, mom?" asked Roxas.

"No, I don't even smoke," Aerith said. "I'm afraid we'll have to go with the traditional pay," she said with a friendly smile.

"Fine by me. These days I need munny anyways, damn economy screwed everything up."

"Cid!" Aerith said with a gasp. "I will not allow profanity to be said in this household!"

"Sorry about that, ma'am, force of habit," Cid apologized. This was the first time Sora had ever seen his teacher look like a gentleman at all. At school, Cid didn't take crap from anybody, not even the principal, but Aerith just handled Cid like a pro. Perhaps because he was a family friend that Sora didn't even know about.

"Wait a second, how come nobody told me about this until now, mom?" asked Sora.

Aerith shrugged. "You never asked."

Sora's head dropped. His mother was such a ditz at times.

"Cid's here to work on Yuffie's room for us," Aerith explained. One could tell she was really excited. After all, she was about to help set-up her daughters future room. Aerith used her finger to gesture at Cid. "Come on, Ciddie! I'm gonna work you hard!"

Cid blushed very slightly and nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

Aerith headed upstairs, Cid was about to as well, but Sora chimed in. "Mr. Highwind, are you blushing?"

Cid turned back to Sora with a scowl that could make a person want to crawl under a rock. "That's eight hundred push-ups fer you, Hikari!" With that, Cid tugged his way upstairs with the items he had in his hands.

Sora groaned, causing Roxas and Yuffie to chuckle. Sora made a note to himself, never talk to Cid. Sora soon finished his breakfast, and then the doorbell rang, which was most likely Kairi.

Sora waved Roxas and Yuffie off, heading to the door and walking off to school with his girlfriend. That left only Yuffie and Roxas.

"Aren't you glad Sora and Kairi seem so happy with each other?" Yuffie said, watching Sora and Kairi walk together from the window behind her.

"I guess," Roxas responded, even though it wasn't like it was a huge thing to him. He knew Kairi and his brother would hook up eventually.

Yuffie looked at Roxas with admiration. "Hey, what school do you go to?"

"I go to Twilight High."

"You and Sora don't share the same school?"

"Nah, I would go to Strife Academy, but I'm in the tenth grade, so it's a little too late to be switching schools now."

"Sora and Kairi go to Strife Academy, don't they?" she asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Because," Yuffie said with a grin. "I'm going to Strife Academy!"

"That's cool," said Roxas. "You'll get to hang out with Sora and Kairi, congrats. But I'm a little confused, I mean, you've skipped out on more than half of your school career, why are you going to school in the first place?"

"I wanna see what it's like, to go to school…it might be fun," Yuffie said while looking out the window. Roxas smiled, knowing how disappointed she'd be to find out that school was just a big bore fest, but he didn't want to burst her bubble. Roxas looked at the time on his phone.

"Oh crap, I'd better get going, later Yuffie."

Roxas got up and ran out the door.

"See ya!" Yuffie called back.

Roxas made it to his bus stop just in time and got on. He paid his bus fair and sat down in the back. He stole his brother's iPod, but it wasn't like Sora was going actually use it, since he had Kairi now. Roxas decided he'd go on and take it so that he wouldn't have to be _completely _bored. Roxas hated being on the bus. It was extremely uncomfortable for him. A lot of the seats were sticky and there might be gum on the windows, and you might end up sitting next to someone who smelt like rotten cheese and looked like a hobo.

He wished he could get on the same bus as Sora and Kairi, since their bus was always clean.

Eventually, he made it to Twilight High, which was going to be a break of fresh air for him, not wanting to be in this gross bus any longer. He got out of the bus and walked out.

He looked up at Twilight High, which was a fairly big school. It wasn't as big as Strife Academy, but it was still a great landscape. He decided to go ahead inside, where everybody was giving the boy high fives and the girls were all waving at him. Roxas was pretty popular at his school.

He soon came up to a close friend of his, Terra. They did their bro handshake. Terra usually went to play basketball with him and Sora from time to time (as seen in Chapter 4).

"What's up, man?" asked Terra.

"Nothing much," Roxas responded.

"Did you get the notes done for the English project?"

"Yeah yeah yeah…" Roxas said, not wanting to talk about that stupid English project at all honestly.

"Dude you know that if we don't get an A on this project, you're totally—"

"Screwed, I know. Can we not have this conversation right now?" Roxas asked irritably.

"Hey, I'm just giving you a fair heads up," Terra responded. "Anyway, have you seen Zack anywhere?"

"Nah, I just got here. Why?"

"That fucker owes me like a hundred munny!" Terra was always super serious about his munny. Roxas was beginning to wonder if he was Jewish.

"Chill out, what the hell do you need a hundred munny for anyway?"

"It's in my car fund. I'm savin' up for a convertible."

"You do that."

"When I get that car, it's gonna be heaven for you and me, bro! Driving off to the club, double dating…"

"You don't even have a girlfriend."

"Yeah? Well…shut up."

Roxas rolled his eyes. Eventually the two best friends made it to class. Terra liked hanging out with Roxas because he reminded him of a friend Terra had way back when he was only thirteen years old. His name was Ventus and he looked _identical _to Roxas. Like—exactly like him. They had different personalities, but that's beside the point. Terra and Roxas had been hanging out a lot since their freshman year, a.k.a, last year.

Roxas and Terra sat down in their seats, waiting for the bell to ring and for class to start. A girl came up to Roxas, looking a little nervous as she twirled her hair. Roxas chuckled at the sight, since Naminé always did that as well.

"Can I help you?" asked Roxas in a respectful tone. He was known for being quite the gentleman.

"Hi—um," the girl looked back at her friends looking kind of nervous. But they shooed her to keep going and cheered her on. She turned back to Roxas with a nervous look on her face. "My name is Serah Farron, um, I was wondering—um, if uh—you'd like to uh—go out some time, heh heh…" She looked really nervous.

Roxas found her pretty cute, but Naminé was the only one for him.

"Sorry, but I have a girlfriend," Roxas said sympathetically.

Serah's expression fell. "Oh, okay…"

Terra got up from his seat. "Hey, don't worry. Roxas may have a girlfriend, but _I'm _available. I can take you out on a world you've never been to before. How about I take you out?"

Serah looked pretty shy, and she curved some hair in her face behind her ear. "Um, sure," she said with a smile.

"Awesome, I'll call you. What's your number?" Terra asked. He pulled out his phone and gave it her. She gave him her digits in his contacts list and gave his phone to him with a smile plastered on her face.

"I'll be looking forward to it," Serah said as she made her way back to her friends.

"Likewise," Terra said. Terra was another one who was popular with the ladies.

"Smooth, bro," Roxas said as he and Terra shared another bro handshake.

"Thanks. I'm not too shabby myself. Looks like we really can double date now."

"Thanks, but I'll pass."

"AW! How come?!"

"I've been busy, okay? I'm working on something very important."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"Nothing, it's not important."

"Tell me."

"No."

"Why?"

"It's embarrassing."

"C'mon bro, we're best buds. You can't keep these things from me."

"Oh yes I can."

"Tell me!"

"No!"

"TELL ME!"

"NO!"

"TELL ME!"

"Ugh, fine!" Roxas sighed. "I've been working on my dancing, okay? My brother has been teaching me some moves at home every day. Happy now?"

"Oh, Roxas…you were right…"

Roxas curved a brow. "About what?"

"That _is _embarrassing! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Roxas slumped over his desk. He knew Terra would have this kind of reaction.

"Roxas, you can't dance. It's that plain and simple."

Roxas scowled at him. "I can dance!"

Terra stifled his laughter. "Okay, let's pretend you _can _dance, what's the point?"

"None of your business…"

A shoulder placed itself on Roxas' shoulder. It couldn't have been Terra, since he was right in front of him, so it could only have been…

"What's up, party people?!" It was Zack Fair, the third and final member of their group.

"Hey Zack…" Roxas said. He liked Zack but damn was he annoying as shit.

"So what's going on? Did I miss anything?" asked Zack.

"I just got some digits," Terra responded.

"Whoaaaaaa! Way to go, dude!" Zack said, giving Terra a thumbs up.

"Man, I need to get a girlfriend, I feel left out now…"

"You can't get a girlfriend," Roxas said.

Zack stomped out of irritation. "Yeah, why's that?"

"Because you don't know how to sweet talk," Terra answered.

"I do too!" Zack growled. "Watch and learn, boys." Zack walked up to a group of girls and put on his "cool" face. "Hey ladies, you guys wanna fuck?"

The girls started screaming out of fear for such an odd request. Soon enough, a girl tapped Zack on the shoulder from behind.

"ZACK!" It was Lightning, the class representative. "You PERVERT!" She whacked him on the back of his head. She did this almost regularly for his perverted-ness and his stupid schemes.

Zack trudged his way back to his friends and slumped down in the seat next to Roxas.

"See? You can't get a girlfriend," Roxas said with a smirk.

"Shut up, will ya?" Zack scoffed. "I don't get it, how come the ladies love you guys and not me? What do you guys have that I don't?"

"We're not perverts," Terra responded. "You have to be a gentleman with women, bro. You can't just go up to a girl and be like 'nice melons' and think she's going to be interested."

"Ah, what do you know?" Zack stubbornly responded.

"Anyway, where's my munny?" asked Terra.

"Oh, yeah, see what had happened was…" Zack's favorite excuse.

Terra sighed. "Bro, if you don't get it to me by tomorrow, I'll freaking kill you." He said it so casually too.

"Whoa, whoa! Chill out, dude! I _swear _I'll bring it tomorrow!" He's said that literally eleven times.

Finally, the bell rang, and the teacher came walking in. It was Mr. Valentine. Despite being absolutely harmless, nobody liked him in the school. Nobody had any respect for a teacher who couldn't stand up for himself.

"Hello, students. Nice morning today isn't it? I guess you little chippers are going to be partying for this Halloween, huh? Woot woot!" He always tried to make his students laugh so that he could get on their good side, but they never laughed. They all just stared at him as if he were some kind of idiot.

"Yeah, nobody laughed, so…" Zack said, earning a couple chuckles from the rest of his classmates. Zack would be a lot more popular at the school since he's pretty much the class clown, but he's just too perverted.

Mr. Valentine tugged on his collar. "Yes, well…I see that perhaps my preference in comedic outlets is different then you all's I suppose." He chuckled nervously.

The class just stared at him for another agonizing ten seconds before they all just started throwing paper balls and pencils at him.  
"You suck!" Zack yelled.

Roxas felt bad for the poor guy, but he had to agree with his peers on this one. Mr. Valentine needed to learn how to step up his game.

Eventually class ended, where the students all ignored Mr. Valentine throughout the entire period, just talking amongst themselves. Roxas, Terra, and Zack were all headed to class, but as they passed the cafeteria, Zack's mouth started watering. "Hey guys, I'll be in English class in a sec, don't wait up!" he yelled as he ran into the cafeteria.

"Jeez, what's wrong with him?" asked Terra.

Beats Roxas. Zack was always getting into shenanigans that he and Terra had to always help him out with. Hopefully this wasn't going to be one of those times. Terra and Roxas made it to English class, but Zack never showed for the first full ten minutes of the bell.

This was worrying Roxas. What if Zack got into some more trouble? It'd be _his _problem now and it might interfere his date with Naminé.

Eventually, Zack busted into class with a sandwich in hand. "Sorry, Mrs. Lulu! I just, had to get something to eat, y'know?"

"Is that right?"

"I _swear _I'll be on time tomorrow!" He won't.

"Is this what you plan on doing with your life, Zachary? Making a fool out of yourself?"

"Hey, that's not a snazzy thing to say…"

"You used to go to Strife Academy, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but I got kicked out. Some loser accused me of raiding the cafeteria, and I didn't do it!" He was actually telling the truth this time.

"I see, and what have you been doing to accommodate your mistakes at this school, huh? Absolutely nothing."

"I have been doing lots of things at this school. Like, y'know," he eyed his turkey and mayonnaise sandwich. "Eatin' sandwiches…"

The class chuckled, but Mrs. Lulu gave up. "Anyway, I hope all of you have been progressing well on your projects. You still have a week, so don't pressure yourselves just yet." She looked at her class, and they all seemed to be too innocent for their own good. "None of you have even started on it yet, have you?"

The class shared guilty glances. "No," they all replied.

"Of course," she sighed while rolling her eyes. "You all had better get started then." Inevitably, nobody in the class used their time wisely, and just talked throughout the entire bell. The school was filled with laziness.

Roxas and Zack headed to their next class, but unfortunately, Terra didn't share this one with them, so they went their separate ways.

Zack and Roxas sat next to each other in the next class, which was their science teacher, Mr. Pomple (yea, made 'im up).

"Okay class, I think you should know I have arranged a field trip for next Tuesday."

The class cheered out of excitement, they never got to go on field trips too much.

"To Ansem Lee's Research Facility."

The class "aww'd" from the disappointment.

"Yep, you're all in High School now. So the days where you used to go to zoo back in fifth grade are over." Mr. Pomple passed out the permission slips to all of the students, much to his dismay. Zack slumped in his chair.

"Ugh, don't need this bullshit." Zack crumpled up his permission slip and shot it into the air, landing it right into the trash can.

A student raised their hand. "Uh, Mr. P…"

"Yes?"

"How long will we be gone on Tuesday?"

"The whole day of course."

Zack's eyes widened when he heard that, and he sat up in his desk. "You mean we won't have to go to any of our classes?"

"That would be correct."

The class all cheered at the much more positive news. Zack ran out of his chair and went into the trash can to get his crumpled permission form and opened it back up. He ran up to Mr. Pomple and placed an arm around him.

"Mr. Pom Pom, I just wanna let you know that you're my new favorite teacher!"

Mr. Pomple sighed out of annoyance. "Charmed…"

Finally, the day had ended and Roxas was on his way back home on the bus. School always tired Roxas out; it was just a pain in the back, especially with Zack around. Roxas walked up to the front porch, where he saw Sora and Yuffie waiting for him on the steps.

"Why are you home so early?" asked Roxas to Sora.

"Early dismissal. Nam just wanted us to let you know to hurry on up and get over there," Sora explained.

Roxas almost forgot about his date with Naminé. Sora was a life saver.

"C'mon, we'll go over there together," Sora suggested. Roxas nodded. The three siblings walked next door after Roxas set his stuff down in his room. Once they made it to the Lockhart's, Sora rang the doorbell. Yuffie gave Roxas a concerned look.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"Huh?" asked the golden blond boy.

"You just seem kinda quiet, that's all."

"I'm just tired…"

Soon enough, the door was answered, by none other than Axel.

"Hey-hey! If it isn't my two little sisters boyfriends! Nice to see you!" Axel said. He then put his arms around Sora and Roxas and gave them the evil eyes. "Just remember, if you do _anything _that hurts my little sisters, I'll rip your jaws off, pile drive into your intestines, slit your throats, cut your dicks off, dislocate your shoulders, break your bones so bad that the marrow comes out, and then sell your body to the devil." What made it so scary was that he said it so nonchalant.

Axel then mugged the two boys non-threateningly as he stepped in his house. "Kairi, Nam! Your good-for-nothing boyfriends are here!"

Axel gave Sora and Roxas one more scowl while doing the 'I'm watching you' signal. Kairi and Naminé soon came speeding down to meet with their others. Kairi gave Sora a big hug as soon as she saw him.

"I missed you!" she squealed.

Sora chuckled. "Kai, it's only been about half an hour."

"That's long enough!" Kairi retorted.

Naminé giggled. "Well Sora, whatever you're doing, keep doing it. Kairi can't stop talking about you. She talks about you more than she did with Riku."

Kairi blushed out of embarrassment and she turned to Naminé. "Shut up, Nam!"

Everybody chuckled at Kairi's reaction.

Kairi sighed and turned back to Sora. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, sure," Sora said as he and Kairi walked off into the distance, Yuffie following close behind.

"Later, gaters!" Yuffie said, directed at Roxas and Naminé. The blonde couple waved back.

Naminé sighed out of relief. She went up to Roxas and gave him a kiss. "Hey, baby," she greeted. Roxas was the only boy she was comfortable enough with to say a pet name to.

"Hey," he greeted back. "Missed those lips of yours."

Naminé rolled her eyes, a smile on her face. "We just kissed each other like yesterday."

"That's way too long! That's like—twenty four hours of me being Naminéless!"

Naminé giggled. "So, where to?"

Roxas raised a brow. "I thought you wanted to go to Sunset Sanctuary today." Sunset Sanctuary was the restaurant she wanted to go to.

"That's boring. And I'm not even hungry today, for whatever reason."

"Then what do you wanna do?"

"Ooh ooh ooh! Can we go to the museum?"

"Museum? But we just went to the museum not all that long ago," Roxas said while rubbing the back of his head.

"Pleeeeeeeassse, sweetie? I've been dying to go back since like forever!"

Roxas sighed. He knew he couldn't resist going against her wishes. He loved her too much. "Fine," he relented.

Naminé was filled with excitement, and she took his hand and dragged him off in the direction in which the museum was. Roxas wished she'd slow down every once in a while, but you mention anything about anything that has anything to do with art, and _anything _can happen with Naminé.

The couple took a bus to the museum.

"Boy, is it me, or do you get the feeling something bad is gonna happen?" asked Naminé.

"It's not just you, I got the same feeling," Roxas answered.

As if on cue, the bus stopped and felt very bumpy, as if they were on some kind of bad road, and it was painfully noticeable, not subtle in the very least. The bus driver parked the car and got out to see what the heck was going on. Soon he came back in, looking a little nervous.

"I'm sorry everybody, but—it seems we got ourselves a flat tire. I'll call around to see if I can get you guys some extra service."

Everybody groaned. Naminé pouted, placing her fists on her chin. "Aw man! Now we'll never get to the museum…"

Roxas felt bad for her. He knew how bad she wanted to go, and how much she adored art. Roxas wrapped an arm around his girlfriend and gave her a warm smile.

"Oh well, at least I have you," Naminé said as she cuddled into him.

Soon the bus driver walks in front of the passengers, rubbing the back of his head. "Uh—I am deeply sorry, but we don't have any other number 13 buses available for use. I'm so, so sorry for the inconvenience, but there's nothing more I can do."

After complaining for ten minutes, the passengers decided to get off of the bus. Roxas and Naminé had to make their way on foot, which really stunk for them. The museum was like a thirty minute walk from where they were, so they decided it'd be best to go home. They could go off to Terra's house, which wasn't too far from where they were.

"What a day, huh?" asked Roxas.

"Yeah," Naminé said, feeling melancholic.

Roxas didn't know what to do, he didn't want to see her so sad, but what could he do to cheer her up?

"Hey," Roxas said, catching her attention. "It's not so bad, things could always be worse."

Naminé smiled. "Yeah, I suppose." She put her hand out, gesturing him to take it, and he obliged. They pressed on while holding hands, but soon stopped as a thug busted his way out of a window of a bakery. The thug ran for his life to get away from the crime scene, and the owner of the store ran out the store, throwing his fist into the air.

"You thief! Get back here!" he screamed.

Naminé got close to Roxas, being a little frightened by the sudden turn of events. Roxas was angry, he hated seeing thugs get away with their wrong doings. Naminé noticed the look in Roxas' eye, not liking it much at all.

"Roxas, what are you thinking?" she asked.

"I think I'm going to do something." With that, Roxas ran.

"Baby, no!" Naminé yelled. If anything happened to Roxas, she would just be in a hole that would be tough to get out of.

"Don't worry, old man! I got 'im for ya!" Roxas said to the store owner as he sprinted passed him. Roxas landed on a nearby skateboard that was lying around and began skating his way down to the thief. Roxas whisked past bystanders, trying his best to avoid hitting anybody, so he had to pull off some kickflips and 360 spins. Roxas used to skateboard when he was in the fourth grade, and did it until the eighth, but he stopped in the favor of dancing.

Roxas looked all over the blooming place, and it seemed that the thug got away for a second, but fortunately he found the thug riding on a bicycle he most likely stole as well. Roxas sped up next to the thug, giving him a grimace look.

"Stealing from stores and taking bikes, is this how you get your kicks?" Roxas teased, although he had a very serious look on his face.

"Back off!" the thug said. He sped up, trying to get Roxas off his butt, but Roxas wouldn't let up. Even when the thug tried doing complicated things like going through alleyways, going under bridges, cars, it didn't matter, Roxas kept finding ways to retaliate and keep up with the criminal.

Roxas had enough of this chasing crap, and decided to stop this guy for good. Roxas stepped on the front of the skateboard, which propelled him into the air. He dove straight towards the thug, but the thug was too fast and did a quick 360 with the bike, knocking Roxas back. It was obvious the thug was some kind of pro at riding a bike. The punk chuckled as he made his escape from Roxas, but when he looked forward, he saw a girl in a white tank top giving him a very threatening look. The thug halted. He may be a criminal, but he wasn't cruel. He was just trying to provide for himself.

"Outta my way, girly! Wouldn't wanna run you over!" he said.

Naminé wasn't letting up. She marched up to the thug and clenched her fist. She pulled back, and whacked the thug straight in the face, knocking him off the bike and hitting him hard enough to make him go unconscious.

"Don't you ever think you're going to do that to my boyfriend and get away with it!" she yelled at the unconscious soul.

Roxas saw the whole thing, having to admit, he was slightly turned on. Since when did Naminé become so…like—awesome! And where did she learn to throw a punch like that? Roxas got up and cracked his back. Naminé was smiling at him, and tossed him the bag of money the thief stole.

"How'd you get here so fast?" asked Roxas.

Naminé pointed to the scooter over by the sidewalk. "I asked the store owner if I could borrow it, and I followed you guys. But when it started to get intense, I decided I'd take a shortcut. I had a feeling he'd some here to Limit Street, since it's close to downtown, which I'd suspected to be a popular place for criminals to lose the police in, even though we're not the police, but still. So I came here."

Roxas was dumbstruck. He couldn't help but think he was the luckiest guy in the world: Kind-hearted, sexy, _and _smart? It just didn't get much better. Roxas walked up to Namine and took her in his arms, looking into her eyes. "Have I ever told you that you're amazing?"

Naminé flicked him on the nose. "Maybe—once or twice," she replied with a cute smile. The police soon came, and Roxas asked if they could deliver the skateboard, bicycle, and scooter back to the store owner, which the cops felt that sounded reasonable. They thanked Roxas and Naminé for their bravery, and took the criminal into custody. Roxas and Naminé decide to continue pressing on, and then it hit them: they should have asked the police to give them a ride. It was too late now, the cops were long gone, so they had no choice but to walk.

"Man…" Naminé said. "That was enough excitement for today."

Roxas twiddled his thumbs. "Hey, I'm sorry how this whole day turned out, I know you must be disappointed but—"

"Disappointed?" Naminé interrupted. "Roxas, I haven't felt such a rush in such a long time! That was a lot of fun and it was really exciting!"

Roxas held onto his heart, feeling relief. He thought Naminé was having a terrible time with him.

"Since when were you so adventurous?" Roxas asked.

"You can blame my sister," Naminé answered. Roxas chuckled.

After conversing about random things for the next fifteen minutes and walking endlessly, Naminé began to feel fatigue become prominent in her body, and she started stumbling.

"Nam, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, just—just a little tired, is all…"

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

Roxas didn't believe her for a second. Naminé wasn't involved with chase scenes on a daily bases, after all. She had to be exhausted from all of that. If only they went to the stupid restaurant, maybe this would've never happened. It was exciting, sure, but look where they were now. Deserted, and not too sure where to go. They were just praying that they were making their way to Tram Cannon, since it was close to where they lived.

Naminé eventually gave in and fell onto her knee, trying to hold herself up.

"Nam, what's wrong?"

"I-I'm fine, don't worry about me, Roxie," Naminé answered. Roxas rolled his eyes. He knew his girlfriend really was exhausted, just like he thought. Naminé noticed that it felt like she was in the air, and she began to panic. But when she opened her eyes, she found that it was only the fact that Roxas had picked her up, giving her a piggyback ride. "Roxie…"

Roxas gave her a smirk. "I knew you were tired. Don't worry, I don't mind. Just relax, okay?"

Naminé was about to protest, but she decided not to. She knew that if Roxas put his mind on something, he was determined to do it, and there was no stopping him. She nodded and accepted Roxas' choice. He began trudging along with his girlfriend on his back. As time flew by, the more she became more comfortable on Roxas' back. She started feeling a little drowsy, then her eyes started getting heavier, and soon she was sleepy.

Naminé yawned like a little kid and rested her head on Roxas as if he were a soft pillow. Roxas chuckled at Naminé, she was just so cute. He was a lucky guy, he wondered if he even deserved her. The way he hooked up with her wasn't very romantic either. He's always felt ashamed for the way they got together, since it lacked all levels of luster.

_"Dare," he answered. "I don't want to be the only one who didn't say dare."_

_"About fucking time, bro," Sora said._

_Sora had to think for a second. He wasn't good at making up dares. He looked at Yuffie. "Yuffie, help me out a little bit."_

_Yuffie whispered in Sora's ear, and he nodded in agreement. "Of course. That should have been obvious."_

_From the way Sora agreed, it seemed like the dare wasn't going to be evil or malicious, but the other three were still a little uneasy. It __was __Yuffie's suggestion, after all._

_"Roxas, I dare you to kiss Naminé and ask her to be your girlfriend," Sora winked at his brother._

_Roxas and Naminé blushed. Roxas couldn't believe this, why was he so nervous around Naminé? He was never like this around any other girl before. What was so special about her? It had to be more than just her dazzling looks. In any case, Roxas wasn't about to refuse this dare for anything in the world right now._

_"Naminé..." Roxas started, looking at her blue glistening eyes. "Be my girlfriend?"_

_Naminé smiled, putting a hand on his cheek, and pressed her lips onto his. Roxas was in heaven. Her lips were so moist and tasted like vanilla._

Roxas was never proud of the fact that he and Naminé got together by a stupid dare by his brother. How pathetic can it get? Oh well, as long as they _got _together, he was alright. Roxas felt her hot breath against his neck. He began to wonder, what if he ended up _marrying _Naminé? The thought alone made him feel very good about himself. Waking up to a beauty like Naminé would be just what he would need to get through life.

Roxas came across a forest. It looked a little shady in there, but he had nowhere else to go. He tugged himself through the forest. It was very dark in there, and the only light was the little sparkles of sun that shone through the trees. Roxas had to admit, it was a little creepy, but it was bearable. Eventually, Roxas made his way up to a mansion (Yep, the old mansion in KH2. Reference Alert). It had a big gate in front of it, but the lock on it had been broken off, allowing entry inside if one so desired. It looked abandoned and kind of creepy, but still intriguing. Roxas always had a thing for creepy and abandoned places. They always had some kind of mystery waiting to be discovered.

Roxas decided to go in. He walked up to the front door and used his foot to kick it open. The mansion's lobby was eerie. There were two stairways that led to two different rooms, the left and the right. In the middle was a glass window that showed the backyard, which had lots of grass piled up back there due to being unattended for a considerable amount of time. Roxas decided to take the left side of the stairs. He had to admit, he was a little spooked. Every corner of the place just looked like a monster might just jump out at him and Naminé at any second, but there wasn't much choice in the matter. It was either stay here in the, hopefully abandoned mansion, or—walk in an endless cycle leading to nowhere. He'll take choice number one, please, no receipt needed.

Roxas walked into the room, and was surprised to find an empty room. Yet, it was so very beautiful. Every single thing in this room…was white, Naminé's favorite color. The table was white, the chairs were white, even the window had a white curtain. It almost looked as if the room were _made _for Naminé.

Roxas sat his sleeping Naminé into a chair by the table. She looked so peaceful, as if she belonged here. The sight looked like it came straight out of a painting. Roxas looked out the window, peering out of the curtains. It really was a beautiful sight. The forest didn't look so creepy from this point of view.

"Comfy?" asked a familiar voice. It was definitely Naminé. Roxas smirked. He turned around.

"Funny, I feel like I should be asking you that." But something struck him…yes, he was talking to Naminé, but he was seeing _double_! Yes, Roxas was seeing two Naminé's in the room, and he was freaked out! Did he finally go insane? Or did he just fall in love with Naminé so hard that he ended up seeing two of them? "N-N-Naminé?!" he asked.

The second Naminé nodded. "Yes, it's me…Roxas."

This Naminé looked identical to his girlfriend, who was still asleep in the chair, except she had on a plain white lace dress with light blue sandals.

"Why am I seeing two of you?" asked the freaked out Roxas.

"Roxas…don't be afraid." Easier said than done. "I am Naminé, yes, but I am from a different universe. In that universe, I am nothing more than a nobody, one who was never meant to exist, and in that world, you are my other."

"Other…?"

None of this was making a lick of sense. Who was this girl claiming to be Naminé from another universe, and what did she want? Was she even telling the truth? She was lying, she had to be! This was too ridiculous.

No…she couldn't be lying. The resemblance to Naminé was uncanny. You know how when you see twins and even though they look just alike, you can still notice little subtle differences between them? This wasn't like that, there was _no _difference between the two Naminé's, besides their attire of course. They were the same girl, alright, they even had the same voice, and boy was it a freaky sight to see.

"Roxas, please, take a seat," Naminé suggested.

Roxas hesitantly did so, sitting next to his girlfriend. Should he even trust her? She seemed harmless enough, and she _was_ Naminé after all. _His _Naminé was still asleep, blissfully unaware of what was going on.

"Roxas," Naminé began as she took a seat across the table. "As I said, I am a Naminé from a different universe. I recently gained the ability to go to different universes, I usually do it when Kairi is asleep. I don't want her to worry."

"Kairi? There's a Kairi in your universe?"

"Yes."

"Does that mean there's another Sora?"

"Yes."

"What about Yuffie, Aerith, Zack, Terra, or Serah?"

"Yes. Well, everyone except for that last one. I don't know if there are any Serah's in my world."

"And…is there another…me?"

"Yes."

Roxas was intrigued. No way was this real. "I see…"

"Would you like to know your role in the other universe…Roxas?"

Roxas wasn't sure. If he found out that his other self was dead or something, it wouldn't be a very pleasant experience. "Sure…"

"I guess I should explain the universe itself then. You see, it's not an average place. It's not like the world you live in now."

"What do you mean?"

"There are many different worlds in existence there, and one can travel there in a vessel if it is desired. One day, many years ago, the worlds fell to darkness, and it only was up to one boy to save the worlds from plunging into an abyss of darkness by sealing the keyholes, locking these creatures called the heartless out."

"And who's the person who did all of this?"

Naminé smiled. "It was you, of course."

"Me?" Roxas suddenly felt super badass even though it wasn't really _him _who did it, but still he had a chance of accomplishing a feat, right? Okay, maybe not, but still… "That's pretty awesome."

"Well…it _was _you, but only in a way. You see, when a person in that universe loses their heart, a heartless is born. But if that person's will is strong, a creature called a nobody is born, and it doesn't matter if you're evil or good, dark or light."

"So, what's your point?"

"In the other world…you are a nobody, Roxas."

Roxas' eyes widened. What a weird thing to say to somebody. "Um…"

"And you're Sora's nobody. Sora was the one who sealed the keyholes, and he sacrificed himself for Kairi, so that her heart would return to her. That's when you were born."

"So…I'm just some sort of backup boy?"

"I wouldn't say that, more like…the other half of Sora," she said with a smile. "Sora is the savior of the universe in the other world. He's saved the worlds from falling to darkness twice, and he's made countless friends along the way. He's such a cheerful person, it's hard not to smile when he's around."

Roxas chuckled. He couldn't imagine his clumsy twin brother being the savior of the universe. "So wait…I'm not a total badass in the other universe?"

"Well—um, I guess not. If by that you mean sealing the keyholes and saving the universe twice…no."

Roxas slumped with slight disappointment. Of course his brother overshadowed him.

"I'm sorry. But if it makes you feel better, you do play a very important role."

"What role is that?" he asked with anticipation.

Naminé closed one eye and put a finger up in a teasing fashion. "It's a secret," she giggled.

Roxas was comfortable for whatever reason. She may be a different Naminé, but she was still _Naminé._

"Can you tell me how other people are in the other universe?"

"Like who in particular?"

"My—my mother, Aerith."

"Aerith, hm? I haven't seen her too much, or come into contact with her much either, but one time, when I first met Sora, I was forced to rearrange his memories, and when I did, it seemed he had no relation with Aerith. They were only friends and helped fight the heartless together."

"Man, me and my mom being 'friends' with Sora, that's something I can't see. What's she like in that universe?"

"Well, she's very optimistic about lots of things, but she's a bit reserved and cares for people a lot."

"Well, it kinda sounds like my mom, but my mom is far from reserved. Heh heh."

"Hm, a lot of personalities can change through the span of universes. For example, you seem very cheerful in this universe. Where I come from, you're not exactly the most pleasant of people."

"Huh?"

"You kind of have a bad temper, and it's because you hold all of Sora's anger. You are his other half, after all."

"Okay, I get it," Roxas said. "What about Kairi? What's she like?"

"Kairi…you know how you're Sora's other half? Well, I'm Kairi's other half."

"Wait, so that means…"

"Yes, I'm a nobody as well. When Kairi was living at her island, she was very kind-hearted, courageous, and not afraid to speak her mind. But after I changed the memories that were linked in Sora, she forgot about him. So she became a little more reserved and wise with Sora gone."

"Oh man, did she ever remember Sora?" Roxas asked. He was genuinely concerned. Perhaps since he could only imagine the Sora and Kairi that he knew being in this situation, and he didn't like the sound of it.

Naminé giggled. "Yes, she did."

"That's good," Roxas said with a sigh. "What about Terra and Zack? Do you know anything about them?"

"I'm sorry, I know that they do exist, but I don't know much about either of them at all."

"Oh, that's okay," Roxas smiled. "So, Naminé…" It was weird calling another girl Naminé, even though it was Naminé, just another version of her. "What brings you here anyway? Why are you here?"

"Ever since I learned my ability to travel across different dimensions, I've been going to countless different realities, seeing what it's like…to see myself having a regular, ordinary life. It's been a lot of fun, actually."

"I wish I could do something like that," Roxas admitted.

"It is a nice pastime, I must say. And I have to say, it is nice to see you and I together in these universes, Roxas."

"So you're saying, we're together in countless different universes?"

"Yes. And so is Sora and Kairi."

Roxas smiled and took a look at the Naminé who was asleep…his Naminé. It was nice to know that they were together in multiple universes, it just proved they were meant to be together.

"Of course, there have been lots of other pairings in these universes. Like you and Kairi, or Sora and Tifa—"

"Sora and Tifa? That's Naminé's mom!"

Naminé shrugged with a smile on her face. "It gets really weird. Some universes show me and Riku together, or me and Sora."

Roxas didn't like the thought of his brother being with Naminé. If that were to ever happen, he'd have to be forced to kill his brother. Roxas gave Naminé a look.

"So, are you and me together in your universe?"

Naminé put a finger to her chin. "Hmm…I guess you could say that," she said with a smile. "I'm not sure if you would say we're together, such as how you and the Naminé of this universe are, but I think one day we will. I can tell."

"You like that Roxas?"

"Yes. I like him very much," Naminé looked like she was glowing.

"That's good," Roxas responded with a smile of his own.

"Right now, Sora and Riku are preparing for a Keyblade War, seven lights and thirteen darkness's. I'm sure that Sora will be able to find the answer. He's the hero of light, after all."

Roxas nodded. "Yeah. I'll be rooting for him over here. And not just him, but you, Kairi, my mom, Zack, Terra, Yuffie…" Roxas took a look at his own hand. "Roxas…and everyone else involved."

Naminé nodded. "And I'll be cheering for you and the Naminé of this world."

"Likewise."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, of course."

Naminé blushed slightly. "Do you…do you like the me of this universe?"

Roxas took a look at his sleeping girlfriend. Like? He was debating it, whether he really liked her, or just was in-love with her. Love was a strong feeling, and it's something that teenagers like him don't know much about. Love is a strong word to say, but like wasn't strong enough. If you round the equation, then…he'd have to say…yes. "Not just like. I think I'm falling in love with the you of this universe. I hope that doesn't sound weird or creepy for you?"

"No, it doesn't at all. In fact, it's quite refreshing. It gives me hope that you feel the same about me in my own universe."

"Well, I'm sure the me in the other universe loves you very much."

"I'm glad you feel that way," Naminé smiled.

Naminé stood up and walked over to the other Naminé, the one that was asleep. She caressed her sleeping face. "She's very pretty, isn't she?"

"You look just like her, you know?"

"Oh—I don't consider myself very pretty…I think Kairi is much prettier than me," she said shyly. Roxas only smirked. This Naminé was just as modest as his was.

Naminé gave Roxas a caring look as she placed her arms behind her back. "Well, I'd best be off, back to my own universe. If Kairi woke up, and I wasn't there, she'd get worried."

"Good luck, then," Roxas encouraged.

"You too," Naminé responded. "But before I go, I just need to ask you something…are you truly in-love with Naminé?"

Roxas nodded. "Yeah, I really am."

Naminé placed a hand on Roxas' shoulder. "Well, if I'm anything like the Naminé of this world, I just want you to know that she loves you more than anything else in the world. Okay? More than anything."

"I can say the same," Roxas admitted.

"Okay, well, this has been fun. But I have to be going."

"Yeah, I guess we should be going, too."

"I'm sorry I had to cut this a little short, but I would like doing this again sometime."

Roxas nodded. "It's a promise."

Naminé smiled back. "Now Roxas, I need you to close your eyes, please."

Roxas did as told. It wasn't like she gave him any reason not to trust her.

"Goodbye, Roxas. Naminé is a lucky girl."

Roxas soon opened his eyes, and she was gone. He was all by himself. Well, not really, he still had _his _Naminé. Speaking of her, she started waking up. Her eyes began fluttering open. She rubbed her eyes as she sat up. "Roxas…?"

Naminé was surprised when her lips crashed with Roxas', but she kissed back anyway. Just like how Kairi enjoyed Sora's kisses, Naminé enjoyed Roxas' kisses. Perhaps the Hikari family were just prone to great kissing?

"I love you, Nam," Roxas said.

Naminé smiled. "I love you too, but where is this all coming from?"

Roxas put a finger to his lip. "It's a secret."

Naminé rolled her eyes, but then took in their surroundings. The white room looked beautiful with the sun shining in. "Where are we?"

"Some mansion I found. I thought you could rest here."

"This room…for some reason it's very soothing for me." Naminé got up and walked to the window, opening it up and allowing the breeze to flow in, caressing her hair. It looked like a scene out of some romance film, it was that dramatic. "It's beautiful…"

_Not as beautiful as you, Nam, _Roxas thought.

"Come on, I think it's best we get out of here, though. Our mom's will start getting worried if we don't get home."

"I guess you're right. But I gotta say, I've been enjoying this little runaway adventure with you."

"Same here," he replied.

Roxas and Naminé made their way out of the mansion and through the forest. Roxas couldn't help but think about the other Naminé and all the things they talked about. It was weird, you'd think that the fact that there were tons of other universes in the world would freak Roxas out, but it really didn't. It was too fascinating to be freaky.

Roxas felt pretty special too, probably being the only one in this universe to even know about other universes. The word universe was gonna be stuck in his head for a while too.

Eventually the couple made their way to a wall with a crack in it. They went through it, and were met with the Twilight Town sun, shining down on their faces. It felt warm. They were in Tram Cannon! That could only mean that their street wasn't too far from here.

They went up the Market Street, all the way up to the back alley. They went to the street after that, and there they were, back at Kingdom Key Street. Roxas and Naminé took each other's hands and made their way back down the street until they made it the Lockhart household, where they decided to sit down on the porch and take in the events that happened.

"Isn't it amazing?" Naminé said with a sparkle in her eyes. "Somehow, you and me made it all the way back home without any transportation. We had to use our own legs to get back here. It's actually more satisfying to come home by ourselves like this."

"Yeah, I agree. But uh—hey, I'm sorry that this day didn't exactly turn out the way we expected or wanted it to. I know you were really looking forward to going to the art museum and—"

"Are you kidding?" Naminé interrupted. "I had so much fun today I could hardly stand it! It was the perfect day…because I spent it with you. Any day I get to spend with you alone is perfect."

"Naminé…" The other Naminé was right, she really does love Roxas. It was a warm feeling. Nobody could replace her. She was the best thing he could ever ask for. Roxas and Naminé shared one last kiss, but it was interrupted when the door busted open and Yuffie ran out with some kind of journal in her hand, reading the pages.

"Woo! I got Kairi's diary! I got Kairi's diary!"

Kairi soon ran out, looking a little pissed off. "Get back here you little bitch!"

Sora ran out huffing as well, but he had a smile on his face. He always found Yuffie's antics amusing.

"Yuffie stole Kairi's diary?" Naminé asked.

"Yep, she's a handful, huh?"

"I didn't know Kairi still wrote in diaries. She is fifteen, right?"

Sora shrugged. "I know, it's kinda weird, but I don't see a problem with it." Sora rubbed his nose. "I think it's kinda cute."

Roxas smiled at his brother as he placed his arm around Naminé.

"So, how was the restaurant? Was it fun?" asked Sora.

Roxas and Naminé share a glance, and decided it'd be best they tell the tale another day, especially for Roxas. He learned some heavy knowledge.

"Yeah, it was really fun," Naminé said.

"That's good. C'mon, let's go catch those two jokers," Sora suggested.

Roxas and Naminé agreed, with that, the three walked off as the sun began setting, and they looked in the distance as they saw Kairi chasing after Yuffie. Roxas felt almost refreshed, and the world seemed like such a wondrous place all of a sudden. He felt like everything just seemed more bright, and he was very happy, with himself, with his friends, with his family, and the girl he loved, Naminé, who was walking beside him.

But there was another one. Roxas looked out into the sky and up at the sun. He knew he'd see her again, the other one.

"Thank you, Naminé."

* * *

I hope you all liked this, it was kinda hard for me to think of a plot for Roxas and Namine, but I think this one was pretty good :) If there are any other suggestions, let me know, I might do them.

P.S The part where Namine explains all the universes she went through, yeah, if you didn't catch on, the "universes" were fanfics and I pretended to act as if they were the other universe. So if you've made a KH fic, just know...NAMINE HAS SEEN IT! ha ha

Leave a review!


	15. Istuki's Agenda

Chapter 15

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh—my—god!" Yuffie cried.

Sora, Kairi, and Yuffie were all standing in the front of Strife Academy. Sora had an arm wrapped around Kairi's shoulders, looking at Yuffie with an almost fatherly-looking smile. It was a nice sight to see Yuffie so pumped for school, despite the system's flaws.

Yuffie was sporting the female uniform of course; a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a blue plaid skirt, and a mini tie caressing the neck, just like Kairi.

"I love school already!"

"Hey, slow down," Kairi interrupted. "You may think school is going to be the best thing ever right now, but trust me, it only goes down from here." Sora nodded his head in agreement.

"Oh whatever, you guys are just used to school, that's all. But me? I've never got to go to school before! This is going to be crazy fun!"

Sora rolled his eyes. If he were her, he would have kept his ass back home, in the bed, and out of commission.

"Sure, good luck with that," he said. He walked up to Yuffie and placed his hand on her back, leading her to the school. "Until then, how about we just go inside and take a look around? Baby steps, baby steps."

"Baby steps are boring! Let's raise some hell!"

"That's not exactly what school is all about," Sora responded. "Keep in mind that this school is a lot different than a lot of the school's in Japan. Its system is run in a more American fashion, such as the fact we have bells and periods instead of separate classes." Yuffie didn't understand a word he just said. She had never been in school after all. "Let's just get inside, and we'll introduce you to the spawn of hell itself."

The trio made their way inside, where they were introduced to the abundance of the school body. Teenagers were everywhere, from the hipsters, to the gothic, to the preppies. To Sora and Kairi, this was normal, but Yuffie was almost paralyzed.

"Wow, so many people!"

Sora, with his two favorite female companions, scrambled through the endless collection of adolescence like bees in an overcrowded hive. Yuffie had a little bit of a hard time keeping up with Sora and Kairi, and was bumped into another student on more than one occasion.

Eventually, they were led out of the overwhelming school lobby and made their way up to the fourth floor, which was where most of the High School classrooms were.

"Jeez, is it always this crowded?" asked the raven-haired cutie.

"Sure is," answered Kairi. "This is an arts school, so it's always gonna be crazy around here."

"Just prepare yourself for the snobs around here. If you don't make a good first impression, they'll leave you out in the dust and not give a crap about you."

Kairi placed a hand on Sora's shoulder. "I'm sure Yuffie will be fine, Sora. I mean come on, she's fucking _Yuffie._"

Kairi had a point.

A hand placed itself onto Sora's other shoulder. The spiky-haired teen turned around to see green orbs looking up at him.

"Oh, hey Selph. Good morning."

"And a good morning to you too, you sexy beast." She gave him a wink. Sora didn't know if he was ever going to get used to Selphie's new infatuation with him. Selphie walked up to Kairi and gave her a friendly hug. "Hiya, Kai!"

Selphie gave Yuffie a look. She seemed familiar. "Hey, I remember you from the night we all went to see Sora perform! You're Yuffie!"

"That's me! Yuffie Kisaragi! Wait, no…Yuffie Hikari!" Aerith had officially adopted Yuffie this past weekend. She was now officially the sister of Sora.

"What are you doing here?"

"I go to school here now! Isn't it obvious?"

"She's also my new sister," Sora chimed in there. "Turns out, she was completely homeless the whole time, so I suggested that she live with me and my mom."

"Mom's the coolest!" Yuffie said with two thumbs up.

Kairi nodded. "She really is."

Selphie gave Yuffie her attention once more. "Whelp, I'm glad you'll be hanging around with us now!"

"Of course!"

Kairi giggled. Yuffie and Selphie should fit together like a glove. It wasn't long before Sora was treated to the daily noogie he always received from a certain Hawaiian amigo of his.

"Yo, Sora Sora! What's happenin', my man?" Typical Wakka.

Sora powered out of Wakka's grip and gave him a smirk. "Nothing at all, Wakka Flocka!"

"Hey, Kai," Wakka greeted.

"Hi," she returned. What struck her odd was where Tidus was, he couldn't have been far away. She looked behind Wakka to see that Tidus was there, but he looked like he was in a trance. Kairi skipped up to the star athlete and snapped her fingers in front of him. "Tidus?"

"Whoa, whoa!" He snapped out of it to find that Kairi was giving him a concerned look.

"You okay? You seemed completely out of it."

"Huh? Oh nah, I'm good, Kai Kai. But uh, who's that?" Tidus pointed to the raven-haired chick that was laughing with Sora and Selphie. She looked absolutely stunning in his eyes, enough so that he almost lost consciousness for a second.

"That's Yuffie. Don't you remember her from Paopu's Pallet?"

Well, he would have, but it was kind of dark in the Pallet that night and he sat at the far end of the table, so he never really saw Yuffie. Not to mention the craze that happened after Sora wasn't feeling well, he barely paid any attention to Yuffie. And there was the time when Yuffie came to the school to bust Sora and Kairi out, but he has no recollection of the event since he was drunk. But now looking at her, clad in the school uniform, she looked like heaven on legs.

Tidus gulped the big lump down his throat. "Yeah, I think so."

Kairi gave Tidus a smirk. "Oh, I know that look." She slapped him in the arm.

"Ow! Where'd that come from?"

"You can't be looking at other girls, Sora already introduced you to Yuna!"

"It's not like we're together or anything." Tidus walked past Kairi and went right up to Yuffie. "How's it hangin', baby? I must say, it looks like I have to give you a fine."

Yuffie raised a brow. "A fine for what?"

"For bein' FINE!"

Sora cringed at the terrible pick-up line and face palmed himself. Yuffie only laughed right in his face. "Who invited the dork?"

The others laughed with her.

"Dork? I'm not a dork! Nobody can resist the Tidster!"

"The Tidster?" said Selphie. "Just—just shut up."

Tidus pouted while crossing his arms, Wakka laughing straight in his face.

Sora looked at his phone, checking the time. "Alright, we better get to class. It starts in like a minute."

Kairi turned to Yuffie. "Yuffie, let me see your schedule."

Yuffie handed it to Kairi without any hassle. Kairi looked it over. "Ha, I see your major is instrumental."

That caught Sora's attention. "I didn't know you could play an instrument, Yuff."

Yuffie nodded. "I can play the drums!"

That sounded kind of familiar.

_Sora and Kairi eventually made their way home, laughing and cackling all the while. Sora agreed to call Kairi later, but for right now, he needed a good nap, after the odd day he had today, he needed it. When he made his way inside his house, he saw Yuffie sitting over at the kitchen table, using two pencils to tap on the edge of the table as if she were some kind of drummer. She was making a beat that was actually pretty catchy._

_"Hey, what's up?" Sora asked._

_Yuffie turned to him looking a little surprised. She didn't even hear him come in. "Hiya!" she greeted back._

Yes, that's right. The day he saw her tapping a catchy beat on the table in his house a little while back.

"How did you learn to play the drums?" asked Sora.

Yuffie put on a sheepish smile. "It's kind of sad honestly, I just used to bang on these trash cans when I was a kid, and I got better as time went by. I was homeless so I had nothing else to do."

It suddenly got really awkward.

"Anyway," said an uncomfortable Kairi. "Let's just get to class." She examined Yuffie's schedule. "Wow, Yuff, your schedule looks kinda…familiar."

Sora came up next to Kairi and took a look at it, his eyes widened soon afterwards. "It's just like my schedule! Except—I'm in tech and she's in instrumental band."

"So, we basically have the exact same schedule?" asked Yuffie. Sora nodded in response. Excitement flowed through Yuffie's body in the matter of seconds as she ran up to Sora, giving him a big bear hug, hard enough to lift him up into the air. "YAY! I get to spend the whole day with Sor!"

"That's great and all, but how about putting me down!"

Yuffie set Sora down and released her grasp. "Come on! Let's go to class!"

Sora loosened his collar. He took Yuffie's schedule from Kairi and handed it back to Yuffie. He took Kairi by the hand and started walking off to class, but noticed Yuffie wasn't in his sight. He stopped and turned around, giving her a blank expression. "You comin' or not?"

Yuffie nodded and started skipping behind Sora and Kairi. Selphie walked with them as well, since she shared first period with them as well.

The four eventually made it to class. Sora, Kairi, and Selphie took their seats just as the bell had rung. Yuffie stood in front of the class with Mr. Newburn.

"Good morning, students. Today we have a brand new student who will be joining our class. Please, introduce yourself."

Yuffie nodded to inform her understanding. She looked back at the class and gave them a big smile. She displayed the peace sign on her fingers. "HIII!"

The students were taken back by her introduction. Usually a new kid would be humble and polite, but not this girl.

"My name is Yuffie Hikari! The most fantasticist, funnestist, coolestist, radicalististist person EVER!" Yuffie pointed to Sora over by the window. "That's my brother! And I'm here to try my hardest and learn how this school thing works! I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to have a great experience as a sophomore in High School and I hope everyone does their very best!"

Her little speech earned a respectful applause from the rest of the class, including Sora and Kairi themselves.

"Well, Yuffie, since you and Sora seem to most obviously know each other, you may sit in the seat behind him."

"Understood!" Yuffie skipped over to the seat behind Sora. She placed her hands on his cheeks and shook them mercilessly. "Isn't this awesome, Sor?! I get to sit right behind you!"

"Yuffree, crut rhat hout! Rhat Huwwtss" Translation: Yuffie, cut that out! That hurts!

Kairi and the others in the class couldn't help but laugh. Sora just looked so helpless. Yuffie let go after he demanded so.

"Okay class, get out your textbooks under the pocket of your desk, and open up to chapter 13." Mr. Newburn looked around his class and noticed that something was missing. "Hey, has anyone seen Riku?"

The class shook their heads. This didn't sound very good to Sora's ears. Who knows what kind of crap Riku could be pulling on the sidelines?

"Alright class, today we'll be talking about Yayoi Period in Japan culture. I want you all to get out your textbooks and open to chapter nine."

The students did as told.

"Do I have any volunteers to read the first paragraph?"

Yuffie raised her hand with high ambitions. "Ooh ooh ooh! ME! ME! PICK ME! ME! ME! ME! ME! ME!…**ME!**"

"Okay, settle down. Go ahead and read, Ms. Hikari."

Yuffie cleared her throat. "The Yayoi period lasted from about 400 or 300 BC until 250 AD. This period followed the Jōmon period. This era in Japan culture was famously named after Yayoi town, the subsection of Bunkyō, Tōkyō, where archaeological investigations uncovered its first blah blah blah. I'm bored." Yuffie closed the book and tossed it out of the window, and everyone stared at Yuffie with their mouths ajar.

"Yuffie, you can't just do that!" wailed Sora.

"Psh, why not? That stuff was lame. How about we make it more interesting?"

Yuffie got up from her seat and walked up to the front of the class, shoving Mr. Newburn to the side.

"What do you think you're doing Ms. Hikari?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm about to make your boring class something worthwhile."

"But you can't just do that!"

"Why not?"

"Because it's not a student's place to tell me how to teach my students!"

"Well, it should be. History is a subject that if you want kids like us, with low attention spans, to understand and want to learn, you have to make it interesting or else nobody will want to hear that junk. Why should I care about these dead people if you don't give me a reason to care?"

"Amen!" shouted Selphie. The rest of the class was impressed and they all gave Yuffie a short and simple applause. Mr. Newburn sighed in defeat and sat back down at his desk. He could tell there was no sign of stopping this determined girl.

Yuffie turned back to the class. "Okay! Now let's get this party started! I need three volunteers, please! I pick…Sora and Kairi! Get your rooty patooty's up here!"

Sora and Kairi exchanged looks, but they only shrugged. They figured; why the hell not? The said students walked up to the front of the classroom.

"Okie dokie!" cheered Yuffie. "Now let's make this explanation a lot simpler than that trashy ass book! Let's say that Sora here had his own clan!"

Sora liked the sound of that.

"But it's too bad that Sora sucks donkey shit though, because Kairi's clan took his oracles to guarantee good crops!"

The class laughed at Yuffie's description, even though profanity wasn't allowed in the school.

"What the—that's not fair!" complained Sora.

"That's how it rolls in Japan, son! Now sit yo ass down!" Yuffie kicked Sora in the backside, causing him to fling over to his desk with a crashing outcome. The class was cackling like hyenas. Yuffie turned to Kairi. "Now that Sora's clan is out of the way, Kairi here can help herself to all of the Japan delights, such as pottery, crops, food, and architectural visioning!"

"Cool," Kairi responded.

"And that my fellow chums, is how the Yaiyoi Period worked! Y'know, kinda."

The students, which had conveniently turned into an audience, clapped for Yuffie's much easier description of something as complex as their textbook made the Yaiyoi Period. Yuffie didn't have the most clever way of explaining it, but it was a lot more entertaining than Mr. Newburn. Yuffie and Kairi bowed. Sora just scowled at them from his desk looking rather annoyed.

Yuffie and Kairi returned to their seats.

"What's the problem?" asked Kairi to Sora.

"Get over it!" Yuffie wallowed as she hit Sora in the back of his head, a big smile on her face.

Sora pointed to Yuffie. "_That's _the problem!"

At lunch, Sora sat at the usual table all by himself. He was starting to wonder where everyone was at, but he didn't pay it any mind. It had been a while since he ate by himself, and if anything, this was a little nostalgic.

Soon enough, someone sat at the table with him. He figured it would have been Selphie, Tidus, or Olette or something, but it was someone he least expected.

"Good afternoon, Hikari." It was Itsuki Harunada. Sora was getting fed up with this lifeless punk.

"What the hell do you want, Harunada?"

"I am here to make peace with the lover of Kairi Lockhart by giving him my offerings." He held out a little box. "I've brought you some miso soup, it was made by my most cherished grandmother."

"Why are you talking like that?"

"JUST TAKE THE DAMN FOOD!"

Sora figured he might as well. Hopefully, these offerings would guarantee him free of Kairi's fan club and most importantly Itsuki himself.

"Well, thanks, I guess." Sora took a nearby spoon and scooped up some of the rich steamy liquid that looked rather tasty. He slurped its contents down his throat. "Wow, this is really good." Sora started eating it much faster. It didn't taste like regular miso soup.

Itsuki smirked as he adjusted his glasses. "I'm glad you like it. I think it'd be best if you knew that I added a few special ingredients."

"What's that?"

"Liver, vinegar, and water from the ocean."

Sora froze after hearing the disgusting ingredients within the soup he was devouring. Sora gulped down the last bit of the soup and started slapping his tongue to get rid of the taste. "GROSS!"

Itsuki stood up and pointed at Sora determinedly. "Now do you surrender Kairi's hand to the KLFCSP?!"

"What are you? Insane?"

"Fine—but I assure you, Mr. Hikari, that Kairi will be within the possession of the Kairi fan club, I guarantee it!"

"Excuse me?" said a feminine voice. Itsuki froze. It definitely wasn't Sora's voice. He lowered his glasses a little to see Kairi giving him a mean scowl and Sora smirking triumphantly with his arms crossed behind her.

"You know, I don't particular enjoy being within anybody's 'possession'." Kairi didn't like to be labeled in Sora's possession. They had an equal relationship.

Istuki fell to his knees and began bowing before Kairi. "Oh, it's you Mistress Lockhart! Your presence has devoured the pain away from my pathetic life and has fulfilled me with joy I cannot condone to withstand!" He started literally kissing her feet.

Kairi was dumbstruck. What was she supposed to do? She wanted this freak to leave her personal space, but she didn't want to be mean about it, he was freaking worshiping her! Sora was starting to get irritated with Itsuki's bold behavior. He picked Itsuki up from behind his shirt and frowned at him.

"I think my girlfriend would appreciate it if you'd stop."

Kairi sighed of relief. Thank God for Sora.

"Mistress Kairi, why must you low yourself to someone of such mediocrity like Mr. Hikari? He does not deserve to be in the presence of your charm and beauty! Nor is he worth your love!"

Sora was sick of this nerd. He rolled his eyes as he dropped Itsuki flat on his face.

Kairi rolled her eyes. "Who the hell are you to tell me who I can or can't be with?"

Itsuki quickly kipped himself back up.

"Oh no no no no no no no, Mistress Kairi! I wasn't implying that! I was just suggesting you go for bigger and better, that's all."

"And who might that be?" she asked. It sure as hell wasn't Istuki. Sora was ten times sexier, more fun to be with, and a lot cooler than Itsuki ever dreamed to be.

"Well, I was thinking that maybe you could be the leader of the Kairi Lockhart fan club!"

That was a major downgrade, not an upgrade.

"Um—I don't think I could do that. I just wouldn't have enough time for club activities."

"What if you and Mr. Hikari were to," Itsuki put on a dubious smile on his face. "Separate?"

Kairi put a finger to her chin. "I guess. Not that it would ever happen."

Itsuki was as giddy as a fan at a concert. "That's terrific news!" Itsuki kissed Kairi on the back of her right hand. "Until next time, my love." Itsuki sprinted off to god knows where.

"Sora, I think I need to burn my hand…"

Sora hit Kairi on the back of the head.

"Ow! Watch it, asshole!"

"Why did you say that?"

"Say what?"

"That you would be their club leader if we split up?"

"Don't worry, baby. It's not like that's gonna happen any time soon."

"Yeah, but I bet you he's gonna start coming up with stupid ideas to get us to break up. Did you see that look in his eye?"

Kairi started poking Sora on the cheek. "Are you saying you're _scared?_"

"No! But Itsuki's insane!"

"Istuki, huh? Is that his name?"

"Yeah. Itsuki Harunada."

"It'll be fine, Sora." Kairi pressed her lips onto his. "Just relax. I doubt Itsuki will be much of a threat at all."

Sora sighed. "Fine, I guess so."

Yuffie had been introduced to everyone, including Olette, Hayner, and Pence. She made a lot of friends, and by the end of the day, there were already only a few people who didn't know the name Yuffie Hikari. Very few.

Sora walked into the band room to come and pick up Yuffie so that they could head home together in stride. He found her in the back of the room by the counters; she was zipping up her backpack.

Sora paced himself towards her. "How are you doing?"

Yuffie turned around and gave Sora a salute with her index and middle finger. "I'm peachy!" As she'll ever be.

Sora felt an awkward presence. But whose presence was it? The seemingly only person in here with him was Yuffie, and there were no awkward feelings towards her. He turned his head to see two clarinet players looking at him suspiciously as they disarmed their instruments. They looked oddly familiar…could they be…

"Sora Hikari." That voice—Itsuki! Sora turned around to see Itsuki, behind him stood the entire Kairi fan club, all sporting Kairi's face on their T-Shirts. It was a disgusting sight to see from Sora's point of view.

Itsuki had the sneer he usually had when confronting Sora.

"Glad you could make it, Hikari. I see I've caught you red handed!" Itsuki took a picture of Sora, the flash irritating the eyes of Sora and Yuffie. "Now all I've got to do is put you in the photo album of potential lovers for Kairi Lockhart that I have subdued!"

"Sora, who is that?"

Sora rubbed his eyes. "Nobody important."

"Hikari, I'm going to give you one last chance: break up with Kairi or else."

"Fuck you."

"Very well. Turn off the lights!" Itsuki demanded.

Yuffie raised a brow. "Who does he think he is? Future?"

The lights cut off as commanded. When they turned back on, Sora and Yuffie were in a place that was not familiar to them at all. It looked like they were in some kind of high tech city. When did things just go 'Sci-Fi' mode on them? They checked themselves out and they were wearing very high tech outfits.

"What the…" Sora trailed his sentence off in disbelief. "Where…where are we?"

"Afternoon, lady. Gentleman."

"Itsuki? Where are you?"

The only thing heard by the two was Itsuki's irritating voice.

"We have simulated you into our computer system. I call it…Space Paranoids. We've created numerous bugs in the systems that have the attributes to supply themselves a convenient offense."

"How did you make something like this?" asked Yuffie.

"We—the KLFCSP—were once the computer club. We used to operate on the school's database and create brand new software. But ever since we learned of the living embodiment of heaven known as Kairi Lockhart, we've devoted our time into worshiping her."

"Jeez…"

"So, what's the ish?" asked Sora.

"Basically, we're going to play a few games…"

"Ooh! I LOVE games!" cheered Yuffie.

"This particular game may not be as fun as you may expect it to be. These are games that were made to test human strength. If you fail these tests, you will become numb to my control, and I'll use that power to get Sora and Kairi's relationship into the gutter!"

"How desperate can you be?" asked an agitated Sora.

"Yeah dude, you really need to get laid."

"Grr! Enough! Enough of this useless gabble! It's time your demise be met with!"

"When did my life get so crazy?"

"Maybe when you first met me!"

"No, I'm pretty sure it was when I first met Kairi."

"So, Itsuki, is that your name? You gonna leave us completely defenseless?"

"Of course not." A number of weapons appeared before the two. "I have engineered some weapons for self defense for you. I'm not a monster, you know."

"I beg to differ," Sora mumbled.

"Choose wisely, once you pick weapons there's no turning back."

"NO TURNING BACK! NO TURNING BACK!" yelled the rest of the fan boys in the background.

Sora looked at the weapons laid out before them. There were five different choices; a shuriken, a backpack with discs, a knife, a magic wand, and a blade that was shaped like a key.

"I know what _I'm _getting," Yuffie sung as she skipped over to the shuriken. "Isn't it kinda ironic? The doofus gave me my signature weapon!"

Sora was eyeing the Keyblade. "Yeah, me too." Sora stepped up to the Keyblade and picked it up. It was heavier than it looked, but after he held it for a second, it became less of a hassle to hold. Sora did a few practice stokes with the Keyblade and was ready for action. Sora used to play with a wooden sword all the time as a little kid, so he should be able to wield this Keyblade very tactfully.

"Alright, Itsuki! What are we supposed to do?"

"I've set something for you at a data transferring sector that I like to call the I/O Tower. You need to get to the Tower and enter the Light Cycle race. If you are able to win the race, which will be no easy task, then you will make your way out of my computer system."

"Sounds easy enough," Yuffie thought aloud.

"Oh, it won't. As I've said before, I've programmed numerous bugs within the system that have been designed to attack you. I call them, the Heartless! They'll be in your way."

Sora gripped his Keyblade with determination. "Then we'll kick their asses, after that, we'll kick everyone's ass in that stupid ass race, and then when we get our asses out of this place, which smells like ass, I'm gonna kick YOUR ass!"

"Damn Sor, that's a _lot _of ass!"

"You laugh about it now, but I assure you, it won't be as easy as you think it will be. I wish you bad luck! Itsuki over and out!"

Sora face palmed himself, but then turned to Yuffie. She was spinning her shuriken on one finger. "So, you think we can handle this?"

Yuffie made a determined fist. "Don't you worry, Sora! We took out Xehanort, remember? Then this'll be a piece of fry!"

"I think you mean piece of cake."

"Same difference."

Kairi was at the bus stop, tapping her foot impatiently, her legs and arms crossed. Where in heck were Sora and Yuffie?

She noticed the bus pulling up to the stop, and she turned around to see if Sora or Yuffie came out of the double doors, but nothing came. No one came.

Did they really just ditch her? Did they really forget about her? What could have happened?

Doesn't matter, she supposed. She had no other choice but to get on the bus.

Sora and Yuffie were making their way through the turbulent computer system created by Itsuki. So far they hadn't needed any reason to pull out their weapons; it was just a relatively peaceful walk on the way to the I/O Tower. The only clue they had pertaining to where it was at was the big light shining in the distance. It seemed to be where the heart of Space Paranoids was.

"This place is amazing!" Yuffie said while gazing at the shining lights. The scenery was much appreciated by the two best friends if nothing else.

Sora was being too stubborn to admit it though. Nothing of Itsuki's work could be any good.

"I guess."

"So, how did you and this Itsuki fella meet?"

"It's not too interesting of a story. Basically, Kairi is the most attractive girl in the school, and the most attractive and most popular people at the school usually get fan clubs due to how admirable their traits are. It's pretty stupid if you ask me. The short version of the story is that Itsuki is the leader of Kai's club—and they've been wanting me out of the picture ever since me and Kai hooked up."

"Why?"

"The rule with these clubs is that if someone is popular enough to get one, they're basically off-limits to 'normal' people. So for example, if Roxas were to have a fan club and Naminé were to have a fan club as well, they were allowed to date each other because they're of higher authority. But if Roxas has a fan club and Naminé doesn't, then Nam would be free to date Roxas if Roxas wanted to, but the consequences would have to deal with his fan club."

"That is beyond stupid and shallow!"

"Tell me about it. That's why they never griped at Riku, since he was just as popular as Kairi at the time of their get-together."

Yuffie put a finger to her chin, deep in thought.

"What's the matter?"

"I think I know how to get them off your back!"

"Yeah? How's that?"

"I thought it would be obvious."

"No. Clearly not."

Yuffie sighed at Sora's asperity. "All we have to do is get you popular enough to get your own fan club!"

"My own…fan club?"

"Sure! If you have your own fan club, it'll declare you just as popular as Kairi! It shouldn't be too hard! You're talented, funny, and sexy as hell!"

Sora blushed. "You think I'm sexy?"

"Duh! Don't you remember when we first met?"

_"Thank you so so so so so much for this, Sor! This is the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me," Yuffie said._

_"No problem," Sora said._

_"I'm sorry for trying to steal your wallet earlier."_

_"It's okay, I forgive you. Don't mention it."_

_Yuffie looked at the boy and rested her chin on her palm, looking with that seductive look again. "You know," she said as she moved her finger around in circles on the table. "I know I tried to trick you earlier by stealing your wallet, but I wasn't lying when I said that you're really cute."_

_Kairi's eye began twitching. Did she really say that? Kairi used all her power not to just slap her in the face right then and there. Sora was embarrassed again, rubbing the back of his head and chuckling nervously. "What do I say to that?" he smiled._

_Yuffie shrugged, "Say what your heart is saying."_

_"Well, um...you're not too bad-looking yourself," Sora sputtered out._

_"Thank you!" Yuffie cheered, patting his cheek._

"You were being serious about that? I thought you were trying to sweet talk me into buying you more stuff."

"So all this time you thought I was just kidding? Ugh, what is Kairi going to do with you? Besides, I've seen a bunch of girls giving you the 'look'."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Of course it is you retard! That means getting you a fan club shouldn't even be that difficult of a task if you're already liked by a lot of girls. It's only a matter of time! All we have to do now is think of something that will make all the girls in the school fall head-over-heels in love with you."

This was starting to intrigue Sora. After all this time, he never considered himself getting more popular. The once ignored, grumpy, and unpopular Sora no longer existed. He had officially turned back into his old self, and he felt better about himself as a person. He had to thank Yuffie and Kairi for that. They taught him how to be himself again.

The two stopped abruptly when a set of strange creatures began spawning, surrounding them in a circle. They had hearts with an X symbol on them as emblems somewhere on their bodies. Sora whipped out his Keyblade as Yuffie spun her shuriken into fruition.

"I guess these are the heartless," observed Sora. The two began attacking the creatures relentlessly. They used all of the combos and slashes they knew.

Sora knew how to use the Keyblade very well. He was able to do a lot of the attacks he practiced as a little kid, such as his Ars Arcanum attack. Yuffie wasn't too shabby either, handling her shuriken like the boss she is.

Yuffie needed to learn how to protect herself when she was homeless, so she learned the ways of the shuriken.

The toll was beginning to become too much for them as the number of heartless started growing. Sora and Yuffie were back to back as the heartless threatened to attack.

"There's way too many!" Sora exclaimed.

"Boy, Itsuki wasn't playing around…"

When things went from bad to worse, someone dropped down before them. It seemed a man in a high tech suit similar to that of Sora and Yuffie's. The man went into his back pocket and tossed three discs at the heartless. The man turned to the two teens.

"Let's use this as a distraction!"

Sora and Yuffie nodded in agreement. They didn't know if they should trust the man, but he hadn't given them any reason to not trust him yet. The three made their way, escaping the heartless.

Once they made it to a heartless free zone, the trio ceased sprinting.

"Thanks, you really saved us back there," said Sora.

"No problem. I just had this weird feeling…are you by any chance headed to the I/O Tower?"

Sora and Yuffie shared a glance. "Yeah, we are," Sora answered.

"Ha, my hunch was correct. You must be trying to enter the Light Cycle race."

"Yeah, we are! Are you?"

"Yes. I think that if I can win the race, I'll be able to access myself to the Access Channel, and then I'd be able to reprogram the system."

"Why would you want to reprogram the system?"

"Isn't it obvious? Those weird creatures we were just running from. Some fool must have gotten carried away, and the entire data space will be de-rezzed due to the instability the creatures have been programmed to emit."

"Wait—as in, deleted?" asked Yuffie.

"Yes. Shouldn't you know all of this?"

"Why should we?"

The man took a better a look at the two, rubbing his chin in thought. "Oh, I see. You two must be users."

"Dude, you're blowing my brains off. What the hell are users?" asked an increasingly frustrated Yuffie.

The man chuckled. "Yep, definitely users. Users are the ones who use this system for their own personal use. The system used to be one that only handled maintenance of school activities, but now it's only treated as if it were some kind of game. I need to win that race to put things back to the way they were before."

"We'd love to help you, but we need to win that race to get out of here, or else we'll be stuck in this…this world forever," explained Sora.

"Hm…you know…that actually might work."

"What do you mean?"

"How about I just give you the restore disc, and when you reenter the user world, you can just use the disc to restore the system to its old ways."

Yuffie looked at her nails, a bored expression in her eyes. "What's in it for us?"

"I'll get you guys to the Tower."

"That's…reasonable enough, I suppose. By the way, I'm Yuffie. And this is Sora."

"My name is Tron. I'm a program who lives in Space Paranoids. I can help you get to the I/O Tower if you'd like."

"Sure!"

"Alright then, first things first." Tron went into his back pocket and pulled out a large number of items, tossing them over to Sora and Yuffie.

"What are these?" asked Sora.

"Those are items. Things like potions, hi-potions, and elixirs. They heal an ally as long as you toss it into the air and say the name of the person you want to cure."

"Do these work in the real world?"

Tron chuckled. "Of course not. It's a mechanic that was designed in this system."

Yuffie hit Sora in the forehead. "Goofball."

The three set out to get to the I/O Tower. It wasn't as easy as Sora or Yuffie thought it would be, because there really were a lot of heartless that attempted to pursue the trio. Of course, they were no match for Sora's Keyblade and Yuffie's shuriken.

"Looks like the heartless are increasing," Tron stated. "We have to hurry and get to the Tower!"

Sora and Yuffie nodded. They were about to run off, but Sora stopped. He turned around and saw a body unconscious, and there were tons of heartless surrounding it. He knew he had to get to the Tower, but could he just leave someone out in harm's way like that?

Sora began sprinting over to where the body was. Yuffie noticed this and turned around. "Sora!"

Sora slashed one of the heartless and took stance in front of the body. "Back off!" Sora began utilizing his combo moves to fight off the heartless. Yuffie came by to help him eventually.

Sora did a spin-attack, and after doing so, he pointed his Keyblade at one of the heartless, but a fiery substance escaped the tip of the blade. "Whoa!" he cried.

The heartless lessened in numbers, leaving only Sora, Yuffie, and the mysterious unconscious body below them. Tron ran back up to them with a discouraged look on his face.

"We really don't have time to get sidetracked."

"But we couldn't have just left him here to die like that!" Sora proclaimed.

The body began stirring, and Sora knelt down to attend to it. It seemed to be a boy. He had spiky orange hair and blue eyes. Sora helped the boy up, his expression concerned. "Hey, you okay?"

The boy dusted himself off. It looked like he had on a pair of headphones on his head as well. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Lemme guess, you're going to the I/O Tower, aren't you?" asked Yuffie as she tipped him on the nose.

"How did you know?" asked the mysterious boy.

"I didn't! But it's plain obvious on your face!"

"You must be entering the Light Cycle race."

"So what if I am?"

"No need to get testy," said Sora. "We're making our way to the I/O Tower, too. You wanna head over there with us?"

Tron grabbed Sora by the shoulder and whispered into his ear. "Inviting random users is not advised!"

"Wait—so you're saying he's a user?"

"Yeah, that's right. I've been stuck in Space Paranoids for the past five months."

Sora and Yuffie looked at each other with wide eyes. "FIVE MONTHS?"

"Yes. I'm gonna guess that you two go to Strife Academy."

"Yeah, we do," Sora answered.

"I'm sure you both know a girl named Kairi Lockhart then?"

They nodded.

"She's my girlfriend."

"Ha, that explains a lot of this."

Sora and Yuffie were really confused.

"What are you talking about? What does Kairi have to do with any of this?"

"Well, to put it blatantly, I'm Kairi's old boyfriend."

Yuffie could have sworn she saw a big "WTF?!" plastered on Sora's face.

"You and Kairi used to date?"

"That's right. It was near the end of freshmen year, and I finally decided to ask her out. We were only able to be together for a week before her fan club trapped me inside this place. I guess they made up some lie about me and spread it around the school so that no one would be suspicious about my disappearance. As a matter of fact, there are lots of other people in here who were once romantically involved with Kairi, but were sent here."

"They're all Kairi's ex-boyfriends?!" asked a distraught Sora.

"No. I've talked to all of them, and they said they were only flirting with her before they got the chance to seal the deal. As far as I'm concerned, me and you are the only ones who have gotten to be Kairi's boyfriend within the system."

Well, that made Sora a little relieved, but jeez.

"At least I got to fuck Kairi before I was sent here."

Did he just say what Sora thought he said? Kairi and this guy had sex?! She wasn't a virgin?! What hurt the most was that he and Kairi had been dating for a week and a half and she never brought up sex, but she did with this guy and they were only dating for a week?! Does that mean she liked this guy more than she did Sora?

"You and Kairi had sex?!"

The boy had a sly smile on his face. "No, I just wanted to see your reaction. Kairi and I didn't even get to kiss before I was sent here, so calm down."

That wasn't very funny, at least not to Sora. Sora perked himself back up, trying to act like he didn't care. Yuffie was laughing. She was starting to like this kid's sense of humor already, despite his monotone.

"I will admit that I tried to get her in bed with me, though."

Sora's eyes twitched. "And what did Kairi say?"

"She said she was saving herself for that one special person she truly loved. Guess it wasn't me."

"Anyway," said a blushing Sora, trying to get back on topic. "Are you comin' or not?"

The boy shrugged. "I guess. Just don't get in my way."

"Same goes to you," Sora responded.

"Now, now boys," Yuffie chimed in. "Let's not be too hasty. You don't need to start up a fight."

"Gee, that's pretty hard when I'm trying to be nice to the idiot Kairi's been using to forget about me," said the boy.

"What are you saying? You saying that Kairi is only with me to forget about you?!"

"I think that is what I'm saying."

"You picking a fight with me?!"

"No, but judging by that stupid look on your face, I'd say you are."

"That's it!" Sora summoned his Keyblade and began running towards the irritating boy. Yuffie pulled out some popcorn from who-knows-where and started watching with anticipation. But Sora was stopped before he could connect a hit.

"Sora, the I/O Tower, remember?" said Tron.

Yuffie frowned. "Booo! Tron sucks!"

Sora sighed and put his Keyblade away. "Fine. Let's go. We'll finish this later, um…what's your name?"

"Neku. Neku Sakuraba."

"That's a stupid name."

"Sora!" scolded Tron.

Sora sighed. "Anyway, I'm Sora Hikari. This here is Tron." Tron nodded to Neku. "And this is my sister, Yuffie." Yuffie waved enthusiastically to Neku.

Neku looked at them with his blue eyes. One could tell he was another I-Don't-Give-Fuck type of people. "Let's go, people."

The four headed off for the I/O Tower. The rest of the way was filled with heartless, but they weren't too much of a hassle. Neku was a pretty nifty fighter himself.

"So, why are you entering the race, Neku?" asked Yuffie.

"I want to get back to the real world, and give Istuki a piece of my mind, like a lot of people in here do."

Sora had to agree.

"I can't find my partner, though. I'm guessing she's somewhere in the I/O Tower, and when I find her, we'll win the race, I'm sure of it."

"It's a she? So you're not into Kairi anymore?" asked Sora.

"Well, I do like my partner. But I can't say that I'm over Kairi yet."

Sora couldn't help but continuously wonder what was up with this Neku character. Kairi never said anything about a Neku before, why wouldn't she tell him? What if she really did fall in love with Neku and liked him twice as much as she did Sora? What if he was just being used by Kairi? Just like she used Riku to get over Sora. Was it the same situation subconscious in Kairi's mind?

Eventually the foursome made it to the I/O Tower. There was a relatively long hallway that led to the actual room itself. They made their way inside, and sure enough, found one of the Access Channels Tron was talking about. It was yellow and had a big screen on it.

"We made it," said Tron. He walked up to the machine and started working on it. There were lots of other people cramped up in the I/O Tower. Sora could only assume they were all ready to enter the race.

"Where is she?" Neku rhetorically asked himself. Neku began looking around. "Shiki! Shiki! Damn it, where the hell is she?"

Sora walked up to Neku. "Is Shiki your partner?"

Neku nodded. "Yeah. She has long red hair that has a weird curl to it."

As if on cue, a girl with a weird cat doll in her arm sprinted over to them and hugged Neku like a long lost friend. "Neku!"

Neku looked slightly irritated by Shiki sneaking up on him like that, but he sucked it up and let her fondle him.

"I thought you weren't gonna make it!"

"I'm fine. You don't need to worry so much, alright? Now come on, we got a race to win."

"Right!" Shiki made a determined fist. Shiki noticed the boy behind them standing there idly. "And who is this?"

Sora noticed she was talking about him and he looked at her. Neku turned his head halfway. "Nobody important, that's all."

"Gr, I've had enough of your mouth!" Sora yelled.

Shiki let go of Neku and walked up to Sora, examining him all over.

"Uh, what's up?" asked an uncomfortable Sora.

"Wow, if you don't mind me saying, you're _really _cute!"

Sora blushed, rubbing the back of his head. "Oh—uh, thanks."

Yuffie came up from behind Sora and placed an arm around his shoulder. "Don't even bother, missy, he's got a girlfriend."

Shiki turned her gaze to Yuffie. "And are you her?"

"Nope! I'm Sora's sister! And we're gonna win the race!"

Shiki put on a challenging smile. "Is that so?"

"Yup!"

"Well, we'll just have to enter the race and find out."

Tron turned to all of the contestants in the room. It seemed to be about twenty people. Everyone had a partner.

"Okay, the system is up and ready! You may enter the race now," Tron declared.

The contestants began entering the pass code on the Access Channel and were transported to an unknown destination. Tron pulled Sora and Yuffie to the side. "Sora—Yuffie—I need you to do me a favor."

"Sure, anything," said Sora.

Tron was taken aback. "Won't you wait until I've told you what it is I'm requesting?"

Yuffie placed her arms behind her back and gave Tron a smile. "You helped us, now it's our turn."

"Wow, you really are users. Your actions are completely illogical." (Reference Alert. Wow haven't said that in a while.)

Sora and Yuffie looked at each other and shrugged.

"I have seen you two in action, and I must say I have faith in both of you to complete the race. If anyone is most likely to win, it is most definitely you two." Sora and Yuffie liked the sound of that. "However, if you do win, and if you are able to make it back to the real world, I want you to destroy the Space Paranoids computer system."

"Wait a second, won't you get killed?" asked Sora.

Tron smiled. "Don't worry, this version of me may no longer exist, but if the data is restored, I will be too."

"But still…" Yuffie trailed off. Tron put his hands on their shoulders.

"I believe in the both of you. I know you can do it. If you destroy this system, every user trapped in here will come back to user world. I'm bestowing the honor on you. Please, do this one thing for me. It's all I ask."

Sora and Yuffie didn't really want to do it, but if it needed to be done, then so be it.

"Okay, Tron," said Sora. "If that's what you want…consider it done." Sora said with a smile, trying to enlighten the mood a little bit.

"Okay. When you get to the Access Channel, the password is 'KairiLHthebeauty15'."

"That's a pretty inevitable password," said Yuffie. "But thanks Tron."

"A thanks to you to. And give my best to the users!" (Reference Alert)

Sora and Yuffie walked up to the Access Channel and Sora typed in the password Tron had given them. As expected, they were transported onto the Game Grid.

There were several Light Cycles lined up across the Grid, and all of the contestants were at their respective cycles. Sora and Yuffie went up to the one with blue light scanning all over the vehicle. Ironically, right next to them was Neku and Shiki with their red Light Cycle.

"I hope you two are ready to lose!" Shiki said with obnoxious confidence. Yuffie stuck her tongue out at her. Sora got onto the Light Cycle. He felt the handles and got himself more comfortable. Yuffie got on behind him and held onto his back, same went for Shiki and Neku.

Neku eyed Sora with caution. Who did Sora think he was? Kairi was _his _girl, and his alone. If Sora was really expecting him to be a pushover when it came to something like that, he had another thing coming.

A man in a high tech suit walked in front of all of the participating young racers, his arms behind his back. He had on a suit similar to that of Tron's but he seemed way older.

"All participates set and ready?"

Everyone nodded.

"I am Commander Sark. This race will determine entryway into the user world. There are no rules; you may do whatever it takes to get to the finish line."

Sark turned sideways, and revealed he had a gun hidden from behind his back. He aimed it to the wall in the distance and shot a bullet. It was strong enough to create a huge crack that would allow entry.

"That is your finished line."

"Seems like a half assed finish line…" Yuffie whispered to Sora. He nodded in agreement.

"You will have twenty minutes to get to the finish line and commence your free will once more. You may begin."

Sark disappeared. All of the contestants thought this was going to be too easy. The finish line was right there and all they had to do was drive up to it, but nothing is ever that easy.

The grid created a huge cityscape that looked like a virtual version of New York, and there were heartless roaming around as well. All of a sudden it didn't seem that easy anymore.

"Hope you guys are ready for an ass whooping," Neku said to Sora and Yuffie. Yuffie got up and flailed her butt towards them.

"Here's the ass, Neku! Kiss it!"

A female computer voice rang in their ears. "Contestants are all advised to stay within Light Cycle at all times. One…two...three…begin!"

All of the Light Cycle racers simultaneously started driving down the lanes they were given into the virtual city of death. Sora and Yuffie looked at the big scoreboard above, and they seemed to be in third place. There were ten places in total, and Neku and Shiki were in seventh. Sora and Yuffie couldn't help but laugh.

Sora decided he might as well get a little fancy as he started driving his Light Cycle on the walls and buildings, grinding on the edges as if he were the motorcycle version of Tony Hawk. Sora flipped the Cycle up to the top of the buildings and begun driving across them.

"Wow, pretty impressive, Sor! Where'd you learn how to drive a cycle like this?"

"I didn't! It's weird, I kinda just _know _how to do it all of a sudden. Might have something to do with being inside this program."

Soon enough, a Light Cycle sprinted next to them. Sora had a bad feeling. He turned his head and…great. It was Neku and Shiki. Shiki stood up on the cycle and pulled something from behind her back. She gave Sora and Yuffie a sly smirk and tossed it to them with a lot of force.

It was a boomerang! It pierced right through Sora's Light Cycle and broke down in an instant. Sora and Yuffie's bodies were bumped all across the flatness of the roof of the building they were on, eventually falling to the street below.

"Sorry, Sora sweetie! It's strictly business!" said Shiki as her and her partner trailed off into the distance. Sora and Yuffie felt the wind all over their bodies as they speedily descended. Sora powered himself over to Yuffie and hugged her with all of his might to make sure she was safe, and before he knew it, they splashed onto the floor. Sora took the brunt of the fall, which was his intention when hugging Yuffie.

Yuffie sat up and rubbed her groggy head. "Oh boy," she deadpanned. She noticed she was sitting on an injured Sora. "Sora!" She got up from and started shaking him so that he'd wake up. "Sora, don't you die on me!"

After about a minute, nothing happened. His eyes remained closed in a blissful sleep. Yuffie gave out and just laid herself atop of him, holding onto him for dear life. "Don't die…"

Unknown to Yuffie, Sora put on a smirk and opened one eye, noticing she was now holding him. "Gotcha."

Yuffie quickly sat herself back up and saw Sora's smiling face looking up at her. "Oh my god! Sora!" She hugged him. "I'm so glad you're alright!"

"Don't worry, Yuff. I was fine the entire time. I was just trying to see how you'd react if you thought I was dead or something. Glad to know you care."

"Of course I care. I just can't believe you were joking around, making me look like a wimp…" Yuffie's hug began to grow more painful.

"Uh, Yuffie…that kinda hurts…"

"Does it now?" Yuffie began hugging harder, and harder, and…damn, she was trying to, wasn't she? "PLAY ME FOR A SAP, HUH?"

"GAAAAAAAHHHH! Okay, okay! I'm sorry! Can't you take a joke?!"

Yuffie let go of her bear hug attack, and the two noticed a very uncanny sight. Another pair were in the air, and their Light Cycle had broken down as well. They began falling down into an alleyway far away from Sora and Yuffie's current destination.

"Well, Sark _did _say that there weren't any rules, huh?" Yuffie said as she and Sora rose to their feet.

"Come on, we better hurry. We don't have a Light Cycle anymore, so we better get moving right away."

Yuffie nodded in agreement. The two looked up at the scoreboard, and it seemed that everyone had lost their vehicles, including Neku and Shiki.

"Damn it, Itsuki…" Sora muttered. Before they could sprint off, they were surrounded by numerous heartless. Sora summoned his Keyblade as Yuffie whipped out her shuriken. The two had become used to the beings of pure darkness and started wailing on them with little effort. Sora learned of some new tricks he could do, such as his magic and drive forms. He performed a back flip while blasting a Thunder spell. "Thunder!" he yelled.

After a while, the heartless disappeared, and the entire map itself changed. They were now in some kind of jungle area, and it looked rather convincing.

"Things can never be too easy, huh?" said a disgruntled Sora. Their attire changed as well. No longer did they sport the high tech suits, they were replaced with slightly more casual clothes. Sora was clad black hoodie with silver patches on the shoulders, the inside shirt was navy blue with a red patch in the center, yellow straps criss- crossed his pants and a black belt held them up. He had on big black shoes with silver soles at the bottom and two red pockets on each side.

Yuffie had a black headband with a white lining. She had an unzipped dark gray combat vest overtop a navy blue tank top with floral designs, a white wristband on her right wrist, a gray fingerless glove on the left. She had tan shorts with black socks that went to her knees underneath dark tan boots that were slightly below her socks. (If you want to be more basic about it, they have on their KH2 outfits)

Yuffie checked out Sora and gave him two thumbs up. "Lookin' good!"

Sora chuckled. "Same for you!" He also sported two thumbs up. They looked up at the scoreboard, and realized they were in fifth place. Neku and Shiki were in first.

"Let's pick up the pace!" said Yuffie. The two made their way through the mysterious jungle.

Kairi's fan club was watching it all unfold in Itsuki's computer basement. They all went to Itsuki's house to watch the entire thing on his TV sets. There were numerous TVs set up and each one was recording the events of all ten pairings. Itsuki kept his focus on Sora and Yuffie 90% of the time. He did not want them win at any cost.

In his hand was the computer program. It looked like a much larger tablet. The rest of the fan club was watching with much anticipation. A lot of them were scrambling for food and arguing about where to sit.

All over Itsuki's wall were photos Kairi. A lot of them were clearly photo shopped due to some of the pictures showcasing Kairi clad in bikinis and swimsuits.

"Itsuki," said one of the club members. "What are we gonna do if Sora and Yuffie win?"

"Let's not delve on the possibilities. Besides, I highly doubt they'll win. If anything, Neku and Shiki are more likely to be the victors. In fact, I'm making sure of it. I broke down everyone's vehicles aside from theirs."

"But what if Neku tries to win Kairi back?"

"Please. He was with Shiki for five months. Are you really trying to convince me that no romantic relations evolved since then?"

"Knowing our rotten luck, Istuki…"

Neku and Shiki no longer had a Light Cycle, but instead a regular motorcycle. They had on different attire as well. Neku had on a sleeveless purple-gray shirt with a high collar and white shorts, his shoes the same color as his shirt. Shiki had on a large cap that covered her long maroon hair. She had on a red short sleeved shirt that exposed a large amount of her midriff, a short yellow hoodie with no sleeves, a necklace with a puzzle piece pendant, and a low-cut denim skirt with a brown pouch caressing her waist. She also had a yellow bracelet, and brown boots that went up to her knees that had yellow striped on the sides. Her plush doll was exactly the same. (Again, you want it in simpler terms? The same shit they wore in The World Ends with You and Dream Drop Distance.)

Neku and Shiki were driving 70 mph, but soon their came bike came to a severely abrupt stop and Neku was flung off of the vehicle, crashing into one of the tall trees.

Shiki quickly got off of the motorcycle and ran up to her game partner, looking at him with concern. "Neku! Are you okay?"

Neku opened his eyes while groaning. "Do I look okay to you?"

"Do you think you're well enough to keep going?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me…" Neku tried getting up, but his body wasn't feeling it, and he fell back onto his knee.

"No way! We're not going anywhere until your body is rested! That was a mean fall you just had there!"

Shiki laid Neku against the tree. "You need to rest." Shiki looked around. "Um…" She ran over to a nearby tree and pulled down a large set of leaves that were conveniently set up similar to that of a blanket. She ran back over to Neku and laid the leaf blanket across him, proceeding to sit next to him with her black plush, Mr. Mew.

"I don't get it. Why are you willing to risk losing this race over a dumb injury?"

"Are you kidding? I'm more concerned about my best friend more than any race."

"Best friends?"

This struck Neku. A friend? He had a friend? Let alone a _best _friend! This entire time he had only thought of Shiki as a partner, an acquaintance, but never did he think of her as a best friend.

Maybe he as well ought to have. They had been through so much the past five months; he was wondering why he never did consider her friend material.

When Neku first met Shiki, he was pretty cold towards her. He couldn't stand the sight of her, since she was so persistent and annoying. It was very similar to how Sora acted when he first met Kairi. He'd always push her away, but she never let him win. She'd always stayed by his side, through thick and thin. She really was his best friend.

"Of course we're best friends. We've been through so much, are you seriously saying you didn't think we were?"

Neku stubbornly turned his head. "No, I…"

"Listen—I think we have a special connection. To have gone through this crazy place and still head through head on, it's a miracle. I'm surprised we're not dead."

"You can't die in this place because you're not a program."

"Shut up, will you? I'm trying to create a moment! Anyway, I was just saying that I think we've grown a lot together, we've made each other stronger, and I'm glad that—we've become such good friends."

Neku mumbled something.

"Huh?"

He mumbled it again.

"I can't hear you."

He mumbled yet again.

"Just say it, Neku!"

"I really like you as a friend, okay?! Fuck…" He didn't like to talk about his 'feelings', especially not with girls. Nor did he want to admit his feelings; Kairi was the only girl he ever admitted his feelings to. But he felt that Shiki would be his exception. He peered his head over to see what Shiki was doing since she was being unusually quiet, and found her giving him a smile with her big red eyes.

"Neku…"

"Yeah?"

"You're so stupid."

Neku's head dropped from the twist in their conversation, but was surprised when Shiki kissed him on the cheek. He touched the tender spot and felt the warmness of her lips. Next thing he knew, she had cuddled up next to him. He didn't mind though, and he didn't know why. He had to admit, it did feel nice to have a female companion that he could be comfortable with. He might as well enjoy himself. He shut his eyes as the sun shone on their bodies.

Sora and Yuffie were slashing their way through the heartless. They looked up at the scoreboard and noticed they were in third place; Neku and Shiki were still in first however.

They were stopped when two players landed in front of Sora and Yuffie.

"We don't have time to play games with you! Get outta our way!" said Sora. He took a better look at the male standing before him, and he looked way too familiar to for his own good.

"Beat?!" said Sora.

Beat recognized Sora as well. "Sora? Is that really you?"

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Yo, I've been here since the night you performed that Justin Timberlake song at the Pallet, man!"

"W-why?"

"Brah, there was this sexy honey at the Pallet, homie! Her name was Kairi or something, and I was hittin' on her and stuff. She didn't really seem to like me that much, though. Then these weird dudes came up to me and was all like, 'Yo, whatchu doin' with our girl?' and they trapped me and my sister inside this thing!"

Sora was wondering why he hadn't been seeing Beat at the Pallet much lately. Who would have thought it was all because of Kairi?

"Well, just letting you know, that 'sexy honey' you were referring to is my girlfriend."

"Really? That's sick! I didn't know you had it in you."

Sora rolled his eyes. He noticed the girl standing beside Beat. She was much smaller than Beat and looked a bit younger as well. She had on an orange shirt with long sleeves that became puffier around her hands and has a skull emblem on the front, a black beanie with a skull design on the front, purple-gray shorts, and large black and yellow shoes.

"Is this your sister?" asked Yuffie as she knelt down to her, giving her a friendly smile.

"Yes, I'm his sister. My name is Raimo Bito, but you can just call me Rhyme."

"Hiya, Rhyme! I'm Yuffie, and this is Sora!"

"Yo, Sora…" Beat said, sounding a little melancholic. " I don't wants to do this, but we're gonna have to end your journey right here and now." Beat whipped out a Keyblade of his.

Sora and Yuffie were shocked that he was willing to fight them. They looked up at the scoreboard and realized that Beat and Rhyme were in second place, and if they got past them, they'd be one step closer to victory. Sora summoned his own Keyblade and took a step back, getting into his battle stance. "Let's do this, then."

Kairi texted Sora ten times, and he hadn't replied for the last hour and a half. She was currently in her sleeping attire, white tank top and shorts. She asked Roxas, but he hadn't seen his brother all day either. It was weird. Why was Sora out for so long? Was he okay?

Even worse, was he cheating on her? Did he go out and find someone else to suit his needs?

No, he couldn't have. Yuffie hadn't come back either, chances are, they were together. And Kairi doubted Sora would cheat on her with Yuffie.

Well, they aren't related by blood…

No, no! Sora would never cheat! She needed to just stop thinking about him. She really couldn't though. Naminé knocked on the door. "Kairi, it's me."

"It's open."

Naminé came inside with milk and cookies on a tray. She set them down on the bed with Kairi. "You were looking kind of sad, so I thought I'd make you some cookies to help cheer you up."

Kairi put a hand to her heart. "Nam, thank you. That was so sweet of you."

Naminé smiled. "Try some!"

Kairi eyed the cookies, they were chocolate chip, nice and thick. She picked up one of the chocolate chip cookies and bit a big chunk of it. And it tasted…

Like complete shit.

Kairi forgot that Naminé was terrible at baking. She was a good cook, but she couldn't make desert if her life depended on it. But Naminé was so sweet and she looked rather anticipated to see what Kairi would say. Kairi forced the cookie down her throat and offered Naminé a smile. "Tastes great," she lied.

"I'm glad you like it!" Naminé said as she clapped. "But anyway, what's got you so down? I noticed you didn't come home with Sora today."

"Yeah, you pretty much just answered your own question."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I waited for him at the bus stop, but he never came. Yuffie didn't either, and I had to come home by myself. I've texted him a billion times and he hasn't returned any of my calls. Do you think he's cheating?"

"Kairi, don't get so paranoid. Sora would never do anything like that. Have you seen the way he looks when you're around? He's like a walking advertisement for happiness, and you are too."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Of course I am." Kairi giggled. "By the way, that wasn't the only reason why I made you those cookies…"

"Huh?"

Naminé set Kairi's iPod on her bed. It had a cracked screen, and it was painfully noticeable.

"You stole my iPod!?" Kairi hated it when Naminé stole her stuff.

Naminé put on a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I borrowed it when I went to the library the other day and it kinda got broken…"

Kairi jumped off of her bed and began pulling Naminé's hair.

"No! Not my hair!"

Kairi walked over to her door and literally kicked her sister out. Naminé quickly ran downstairs, not wanting to deal with her demon older sister. "Yeah, you better run you little bitch! And the cookies tasted like ass crack!"

Kairi sighed as she shut her door. She went back up to her bed, dragging her feet along. She wasn't even all that mad about the iPod. She could have just asked Sora for his any time anyway, he'd give it to her. She couldn't care less about it. But what she was concerned about was Sora himself. She needed to know if he was okay, and that he wasn't being unfaithful to her.

Beat and Rhyme hit the floor. Sora and Yuffie walked up to them as the victors of their little scuffle.

"You guys put up a good fight, but we all knew we were gonna win!" said Yuffie.

"Yo…" was all Beat could say as he rubbed the back of his head. He sure did love that word.

Sora and Yuffie looked up at the scoreboard and noticed the fourth place pair was coming up to them faster than expected. Sora and Yuffie ran past Beat and Rhyme, making them enter into second place.

"Almost there!" declared Sora. They jumped simultaneously and swung across a vine to get across a lake below them. They landed and were frozen with the sight they saw. Under a tree, laid Shiki and Neku…cuddling together. They seemed to be asleep, or perhaps relaxing? Either way, this was an opportunity they couldn't afford to lose.

They were about to continue running, but Yuffie said, "Hold on, one second!"

Yuffie pulled out a black sharpie and ran up to Neku and Shiki's sleeping bodies. When she backed up, the word 'S L U T' was on Shiki's forehead. Sora smirked at Yuffie.

"Was that really necessary?"

"It sure was!"

Yuffie put the marker away and the two made their way off to finish line. They saw it; the big crack in the wall was within their sight! They were almost there, nothing was stopping them.

That was until, the heartless came. They were surrounded by numerous heartless, a thousand heartless to be exact. Sora popped out his Keyblade and Yuffie her shuriken.

"There's way too many! There's no way we can take them all on!" Sora cried.

"Does it look like we have a choice?"

She was right. Whether they liked it or not, they had to take on a thousand heartless.

"Mind if I be of assistance?" said a familiar voice.

"Huh?" said Sora and Yuffie in unison.

From the sky they saw a Light Cycle, and it landed right before them. The person took their helmet off and revealed his smiling face to Sora and Yuffie.

"Tron!" they said in unison once more.

Tron got off of his Light Cycle and took out his discs. "Thought you'd seen the last of me, eh? How about I give you a hand? I'll take care of these guys, you get to the finish line!"

Sora and Yuffie nodded. "Right!"

"Consider this my thanks for helping me."

"WHAT?!" cried the entire KLFCSP.

"How did that stupid program breach through the main securities?! I only programmed Sark to be in there!"

"What do we do, Itsuki?!"

What _could _they do? Itsuki had no other program modules he could add as obstacles in the way of Sora and Yuffie. All he could do was sit back and watch as the scene unfolded without his supervision.

Sora and Yuffie got on the Light Cycle Tron arrived in earlier. They gave Tron a thumbs up and they sped off into the distance, killing a row of heartless as they did so. Tron turned back to the heartless and got out his discs.

"My final act of honor…"

Sora and Yuffie sped their way through the jungle.

"Sora! We're there!"

The crack in the wall was getting nearer, but it was guarded by two big purple heartless. They shot at Sora, but he narrowly dodged their attacks.

"I got 'em…" said Yuffie. She flipped into the air and threw two ninja stars at the creatures' mid-air, and it pierced through both of them, killing them instantly. She landed back on the Cycle, holding onto Sora and the two made it into the crack, declaring their victory. They heard the victory music chime in and they continued to drive down the hallway, which had white walls and wasn't very flashy, but it was peaceful.

Sora and Yuffie sighed simultaneously.

"We did it…" said an exhausted Sora.

"We did, didn't we?" Yuffie was overcome with fatigue and she rested her head against Sora's back as they drove down the white hall.

"Kairi…I'm on my way…"

He noticed a white light shine at the end of the tunnel. Sora made his way through it, blinded by the shine.

When he opened his eyes, he was in Itsuki's basement, Yuffie asleep on his back. He noticed the KLFCSP was backed up against the wall, looking at him scared shitless. They didn't know what he'd do to them. Sora noticed he and Yuffie were back in the school uniform.

Sora gave Kairi's fan club a smirk, which scared them even more. Why was he not angry with them? Or was he?

Sora placed Yuffie down on the chair beside him and allowed her to regain some energy. He smiled at her.

"Get some rest, you deserve it."

Sora turned back to the KLFCSP while he picked up the large tablet.

"Is this your stupid computer program?"

"W-why?" asked Itsuki.

Sora dropped it onto the floor and used his foot to step on it, crushing with his bare foot.

"NO!" cried the club of hopeless losers.

Out of nowhere, everybody who was stuck inside the program came into fruition. They all noticed they were back in their original bodies and all cheered for their success.

Then they all noticed Itsuki and the Kairi Lockhart fan club. They all were thinking the same thing and they started heading towards them with malicious thoughts in mind, except for Sora. He thought he'd just watch.

"Hey, guys," said Itsuki, trying to sound casual. "Let's not be too rash, now…come on, it was just a joke." Itsuki chuckled nervously.

"Yo, not cool, bro!" said Beat.

Sora placed his hands behind his head. "I'm just gonna leave you all alone to discuss things. Have fun, guys!" Sora picked up Yuffie and made his way out of Itsuki's basement.

"So…would you all like it if I got you some snacks?" offered Itsuki, trying to get out of this situation.

They all looked at him motionless, as if he were some kind of idiot. Neku cracked his knuckles, and Istuki and the club gulped.

Sora and Yuffie took the bus on the way home. Yuffie slept the entire way through, she was completely worn out. Nothing had woke her up. Sora was just hoping that Kairi made it home safely. If anything happened to her while he was gone, he was going to personally pay Itsuki a visit that he surely wouldn't forget.

They made it back home and Sora picked Yuffie back up. He made his way back into their house, and he noticed Aerith was watching TV in the living room. She looked a little upset, but he decided not to bother her.

Sora trudged himself up the stairs. Yuffie became a lot heavier while walking upstairs. Roxas' light was off, so Sora assumed he was asleep. Sora went into his room and placed Yuffie on his bed. He took her shoes off since he always hated having shoes on his bed, and he tucked her in. Yuffie shifted in her sleep as she moaned in pleasure from the more comfortable sleeping space, a small smile on her lips. "We did it…" he heard her whisper in her sleep. Sora chuckled. She had one hell of a first day at school.

He made his way out of the house and ran over to the Lockhart residence. He rang the doorbell, and soon enough, Naminé answered the door.

"Oh, hi Sor—" she was interrupted when Kairi used her whole body to bump her out of the way.

"Outta the way, slut!" Kairi said. She then turned her undivided attention towards Sora and gave him a frown.

"Look, I know what you're thinking, but I have a legit excuse for not coming home with you."

Kairi crossed her arms. "If it's not excusable, I'm ripping your balls off."

Kairi led Sora up to her room where he began to explain everything that happened, but decided to leave anything about Neku out of it. She looked at him with an unsure look.

"It's one thing to not be at the bus stop when you're supposed to be, but it's another thing to lie to me like this, Sora."

Sora was dumbstruck. "I'm not lying! You can ask Yuffie! I bet you she'll say the same thing!" Kairi wasn't buying it. "I'm telling you the truth! It's all Itsuki's fault! If he weren't such an annoying little turd, none of this would have ever happened and me and you would have—"

She cut him off with her lips. Sora's body felt relaxed immediately after a kiss like that. She pulled back but was still giving him a frown.

"Next time, you let me know that you're okay before having adventures."

Sora chuckled. "Fine. I'll do my best."

Kairi then smiled. "Good." She rested onto him. She was just glad to have her boyfriend back. "I love you."

Sora went through all of that…for this. He and Yuffie went through hell. In the end, he was able to subdue Kairi's fan club and their pathetic scheme. In the end of it all, what he was rewarded with was Kairi's presence. She really missed him, and worried over him like a stubborn sister or a mother. It was worth it. If he could have this feeling again, would he go through all of that again?

Yes, he would.

"I love you too."

* * *

I wanted to make something with a little more action.

Much thanks The V-Blade! He gave me the idea to do this for this chap when I couldn't think of anything. I changed it up quite a bit, but I will still use your idea soon V-Blade!

Much love to him for being my first fanfiction buddy! :)


	16. Sir Yes Sir

Chapter 16

**SPLASH!**

Sora sat up immediately when water splashed all over his face. He shook his head to get the water out of his hair, looking up to see Cid Highwind grinning above him, an empty glass in his hand. Big surprise.

"Get yer ass up, Hikari! Time fer' school!" Cid had a cigarette in his mouth.

Sora sat up and stretched. "What are you doing here?"

Cid rubbed his nose. "Jus' gon' be finishin' Yuffie's room. It's almost done, but I still got a few touches to add to it."

"It's taking you forever to finish that room. When are you gonna get it done so that you won't have to stench my house up anymore?"

Cid slapped Sora on the back of his head. "I should be done by tomorrow. And since you wanna be a little brat, you can give me five hundred laps at school today."

Sora rubbed the spot Cid hit. "Whatever, can you just get out of my room?"

Cid puffed some smoke in Sora's face before he clumped his way out. Sora yawned. He despised being woken up. He much preferred waking up at his own leisure. Sora went over to Yuffie, who was still asleep on his bed. He shook her a little. "Yuffie…c'mon, it's time for school."

"Mmm…" she moaned.

"Yuffie," he started shaking a little harder. "Yuffie, wake up!"

Yuffie sat up, her eyes as red as a demon. "IF YOU DON'T SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Sora backed up in fear. Note to self: never wake Yuffie up. Ever. Yuffie plopped back down, tucking herself back into Sora's covers. Sora sighed and decided to just get his clothes. He went into the bathroom, took a quick shower, and got dressed.

He went downstairs to find Yuffie sitting at the table all dressed up in her uniform and kicking her feet out on the chair, her expression was as happy as could be. She looked like a totally different person compared to the monster he tried to wake up earlier.

"Hiya!" she greeted. Sora didn't think he'd ever understand his sister. He went inside a little further and found Kairi sitting next to Yuffie, and Roxas across from Kairi.

"Hey you," said Kairi to Sora.

"Hey how you doin' you sexy—" Sora noticed his mother was in the room as well. "I mean, uh—you idiot!"

Sora never told his mom that he and Kairi were a couple. In fact, as far as Aerith knew, Sora still found her "annoying", but that was four months ago. She hadn't seen how Sora and Kairi acted with each other in a while.

Besides, Aerith would never stop with the constant teasing if she ever found out, and that was just something Sora didn't feel like dealing with.

Kairi raised a brow at Sora. As if reading her mind, he dotted his eyes at Aerith indicating he needed to put on an act. Kairi nodded.

"Don't call me an idiot, you're a pig brain!" she retorted.

Sora sat down next to Roxas and placed his chin on his palm. "Ugh, why are you so annoying?"

"It's not that I'm annoying, it's just that you're a douchebag."

Roxas was pathetically confused. He had no idea what they were doing. Had they broken up? Or did he go back in time?

Nope, he glanced at Yuffie and she was clad in the Strife Academy uniform.

Speaking of Yuffie, she knew exactly what was going on. Sora told her about how he and Kairi acted when they first met. He also spoke of not wanting their mother to know about it either. She could tell Roxas was confused though. Guys are so stupid.

"I see you two haven't changed at all," said a smiling Aerith. Kairi smiled sheepishly. She begged to differ, but she knew Sora wouldn't be very happy about that.

Aerith placed the foursome's breakfast on the table and they dug in.

Aerith couldn't help but feel that something was off about Sora and Kairi though. Sure, they _seemed _to act the same, but there was something different this time around, and she couldn't really pinpoint it. Oh well, it was probably nothing.

Sora finished his breakfast. He got up and headed over to the door. "Come on Yuffie."

"Right!"

"By the way, could you tell _that,_" he was referring to Kairi, "to hurry it up as well?"

Kairi frowned at him. "I'm going to kill you…"

Kairi got up from her seat and walked out the house with Yuffie.

"Alright, Roxas," said Sora.

"See ya, man." Roxas was still confused as to why Sora and Kairi were acting like that.

Once Sora went out the door and closed it shut, he and Kairi shared their now-daily greeting of a good morning kiss.

"That was torture," said Kairi as they pulled apart. "I wanted to just make out with you so bad that entire time, but fuck! Your mom wouldn't leave!"

"I know, right?" Sora agreed.

"Ugh…" said Yuffie. "I think I'm gonna barf."

Sora chuckled and Kairi rolled her eyes, and they began walking off to their bus stop.

* * *

Sora, Yuffie, Kairi, and Selphie were all sitting together in class, waiting for Mr. Newburn to come in and start. They were in the midst of conversation.

"Why don't you get a boyfriend, Yuffie?" suggested Kairi.

"Not interested."

"There isn't anyone you're interested in? I mean, there are a lot of cute guys at the school," said Selphie. She then gestured to Sora. "Case and point."

"I guess, but I don't wanna be tied down."

"What about Tidus? He seems to be interested in you."

"Ew!"

Sora and Kairi laughed. They found it funny because Tidus always depicted himself as someone who could get any girl he set his sights on, but Yuffie didn't want anything to do with him.

"Ooh, guys! I need to tell you something," said Selphie. "Okay, so I was thinking about straws. But not just any straws, but BENDY straws! And I was wondering, how do they get bendy like that? I have this theory that the people who make bendy straws use knives to create riffs in the straw, and then create an intergalactic warp hole to go back in time, and repeatedly make riffs on the straws and then come back to present time to have a million bendy straws!"

The three just stared at her speechless. Kairi broke the silence by laughing. She had been spending so much time with Sora and Yuffie lately that she forgot how random Selphie always was.

Sora and Yuffie were confused. Was Selphie being serious or was it some insider joke between Kairi and Selphie? Even Yuffie found it weird, but interesting. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"That's quite the hunch you got there. Maybe one day we should try to see if it's true!"

"We totally should!"

Mr. Newburn came in and slammed the door shut. "Please take your seats."

The students did as told. He couldn't help but notice that Riku's seat was empty once more, but he tried paying it no mind.

"Today you will start group projects."

Selphie raised her hand. "Ooh! Do we get to pick our partners?"

"Nope."

The class groaned in annoyance. They _hated _it when teachers paired them up, because it would always turn out that you would be with someone you don't really know, and it would be extremely awkward.

"I have already assigned you all to groups of three." He started calling out the names of people in their groups. He announced that Yuffie, Selphie, and another kid in the class would work together, which brought relief to Selphie, being able to work with someone as crazy as Yuffie.

Sora and Kairi still hadn't been called yet, and Sora was starting to get nervous. He glanced over at Kairi and she gave him a smile and crossed her fingers, indicating she hoped they'd get paired up. Sora returned the smile.

Eventually, they were called out. "And for the final group…Sora and Kairi…"

"Yes!" they both whispered silently.

"…and Riku."

Sora wanted to scream 'FUCK!' really loud, but he held it in. Barely. The irony of it all.

Kairi wasn't very happy about that either. How awkward would that be? She already knew about the beef between her boyfriend and ex-boyfriend. She felt guilty because she was the main source of their problems. That—and this was going to be beyond awkward.

It was all her fault, she should have just rejected Riku politely when he asked her out all that time ago, and this probably would have never happened. It was also partly Sora's fault for giving Riku his consent to ask her out as well. If Sora hadn't been so stubborn about his feelings towards Kairi, none of this tension would exist either.

Oh well, at least Riku wasn't here today, and they could just work with each other for now.

That was…until someone came into the classroom.

Mr. Newburn didn't even recognize the face. "Um, are you another new student?"

The teenager lifted his face, and it was…no way…it was Riku! He had on a black shirt with the sleeves ripped off so that it exposed his arms and shoulders, black skinny jeans with buckles and belts that had skulls plaid across it, two spiky bracelets on his wrists, and he had on black lipstick, and a ridiculous amount of mascara. On his shoulder was a tattoo that read 'FUCK THE WORLD, FUCK LOVE, and FUCK YOU.' He also grew his hair out so that it reached down to his upper back, and his bangs shrouded a majority of his eyes.

"Riku?!" said an astonished Mr. Newburn. The entire class was traumatized, most notably Sora, Kairi, and Selphie.

Mr. Newburn adjusted his glasses. "Riku, what happened to you? Why aren't you in your uniform?"

Riku punched Mr. Newburn in the face, spat on him, kicked him in the sack, and tossed him into the chalkboard, where he proceeded to kick Mr. Newburn right in the head, knocking him unconscious.

The rest of the class was scared shitless. Riku sat down in his usual seat and stared blankly ahead. There was a painfully awkward silence that commenced. Yuffie got up from her chair and walked over to the troublesome boy, placing her fists on her sides and giving him a dirty look. "What the hell was that for you asshole?!"

"School blows," he answered in monotone.

"But why did you have to go and do that?! You're such a downer! No wonder Kairi broke up with you!"

"Yuffie, Yuffie," Kairi interrupted. "Can we keep my name out of the air waves?"

Yuffie shrugged her shoulders. "I'm just sayin'…"

Riku looked like a robot, as if he lacked a soul. "Who needs life? Who needs love? Who needs anything anymore? The world is just something of impediment that applies to no one's needs, and we just find ourselves scrabbling to get the last spots on the pole of success, but most of us never arrive. Even the ones who do still have hard lives and it sickens me how we have succumbed to such lowly needs to satisfy our happiness. Love, money, and power? Who needs it? We need to learn how to satisfy ourselves without the need of other companions because the one we love will always break our heart in the long run."

"Dude, what the hell are you talking about?" asked Yuffie. Whatever he just said didn't make a lick of sense. Riku got up and picked up his book bag, slinging it around his shoulder.

"I'm outta here," he said as he made his way out of the classroom, much to everyone's relief. Riku had turned into another version of Hayner, except he was much MUCH worse. The class talked amongst themselves, trying to figure out what the heck was wrong with Riku.

Riku lessened in popularity this year, what with him being openly dumped by Kairi Lockhart and being tossed to the side in favor of Sora. It got to the point where Riku's fan club didn't even go to meetings anymore, and Selphie abandoned that club long ago. She had long went and forgot about Riku and the crush she had for him was like a dream.

Sora was probably the only one in the school who felt sympathetic for him, he ironically being the main cause for his pain.

Yuffie walked back over to her aisle and sat on Sora's desk, flipping her hair back. "Man, what a loser! Who goes Goth just because he broke up with a girl who didn't even want him?"

Sympathetic or not, Sora had to agree. He was hurting when Kairi went out with Riku, but jeez, he didn't go emo on everybody.

"I feel kinda bad for him, though," Sora admitted. "I mean, y'know…look at him. I mean…fuck…"

"None of this would have happened if he hadn't been such a jerk," said Kairi.

Yuffie looked out the window. "I'm bored. This is the most boring class of the day…"

"Well, our teacher is unconscious," said Selphie, who had walked up to them and joined the conversation. They all looked at Mr. Newburn, who was left completely unattended.

"Wow, um, you guys think we should help him out?" asked Yuffie.

"He'll be fine," Selphie responded. She didn't really care about Mr. Newburn much, nobody really did. But Sora didn't think it would be right to just leave him there like that.

Sora got up from his seat and walked up to Mr. Newburn, who was still breathing most fortunately. He tried picking him up but Newburn was surprisingly heavier than what was expected, maybe because of his gigantic haircut.

"Yuffie, give me a hand."

Yuffie got up and started helping Sora get Mr. Newburn on his feet. They wrapped his arms around their shoulders.

"Let's get him down to the nurse's office," Sora suggested. Yuffie nodded in agreement.

* * *

"Oh dear!" cried the nurse. "What on earth happened?!"

Sora and Yuffie shared nervous glances. Should they mention Riku? He might get expelled if any of the authorities found out this was his doing. They didn't know if that would be a good thing or a bad thing.

"Uh…" Sora said. "He said he wasn't feeling good and so he ended up passing out."

"Lay him on the chair right there."

Sora and Yuffie did as such; the nurse went and got a First Aid kit, hurrying to attend Mr. Newburn's needs. She glanced at Sora and Yuffie.

"Much thanks to you both."

"No problemo!" Yuffie said with a salute. The two friends made their way out of the nurse's office, where Sora was tackled to the ground almost immediately.

"What the hell!" It looked like two students, two very beefy students that could pass for bodyguards. They picked Sora up. Yuffie went on her fiery instincts and jumped on one of the bodyguards backs.

"Hey! Get your paws off of him!" She bit his ear.

"ARGH! You sneaky little bitch!" The body guard slammed Yuffie to the ground, not caring at all that she was a female or not.

"Yuffie!" Sora cried. How could he just do something like that? Yuffie may be strong, but she still had the body and physique of a regular teenage girl. Yuffie groaned as the pain sprinted through her body, but when she looked up, Sora and the intimidating figures were long gone.

* * *

Sora was thrown into a dark room where the naked eye couldn't specify the details. He was placed onto a chair, and soon a light popped on, shining on Sora's radiant features. He winced from the warmness caressing his cheeks, and it wasn't long before he was face-to-face with Istuki Harunada.

"Sora Hikari, we meet again." Istuki gave Sora a toothy smirk; his eyes weren't visible due to the light reflecting on his glasses. Sora was getting bored already as he placed his chin on his palm, giving Istuki a casual look.

"Unfortunately," Sora muttered.

"Yes well—it seems that you didn't learn your lesson from last time. Did I not make myself clear that I would like for you to stay away from Kairi the last time we came into contact?"

"Well, _technically _all you did was shot me and Yuffie inside of a stupid computer program."

Istuki recalled their last encounter. "Hm, you're right. That was very foolish of me."

"Yeah, no kidding. So, what's the big agenda this time? You gonna throw water balloons at me or something?"

Istuki blushed while rubbing the back of his head. "Tch, no! What on earth gave you that idea? That's so lame!" Istuki reached over to a walkie talkie he had laying on the table and whispered into it. "Deteriorate plan C, subject already knows of its existence! Repeat, deteriorate plan C!"

Sora sighed. This Istuki was quite the character, huh? Istuki faced Sora once more and adjusted his glasses. "Any who…that isn't the point of this little meeting."

"Then what _is _the point of this meeting?"

"I think you should know best, Mr. Hikari. I want you to break up with Kairi Lockhart."

Sora rolled his eyes. "No." It was a simple and predictable answer.

"I had a feeling you'd say something like that. That's why I've arranged an offer you couldn't possibly refuse, not even for your dearest Kairi Lockhart!"

That was baffling. There was nothing worth risking his relationship with Kairi in Sora's mind. He crossed his arms. "This I'd like to hear. Might as well get a good laugh out of this."

"Oh, you won't be laughing for long. You see, having Kairi out of reach is what we take pride in. And Mr. Hikari, you definitely have been a tough nut to crack. But not for long, here's my proposition: why don't we have a competition?"

"I don't think you can beat me in any competition. Ever."

"Is that so? Well, that's why I've arranged a special competition for you."

"A special competition?"

"Yes, you will have predetermined number of obstacles for you to overcome, personally created by yours truly, and if you fail them, you will have to ultimately give up your relationship with Kairi. Do we have a deal?"

"Dude, I wouldn't trade a million munny for Kairi, let alone a stupid game made by some loser obsessing over a girl who I highly doubt would ever be caught _dead _with."

Istuki slammed his fist on the table. "YOU BASTARD! THAT SETTLES IT! I AM FORCING YOU TO ACCEPT MY CHALLENGE OR ELSE!"

Sora leaned back in his chair, looking rather bored. "Or else what?"

Istuki let out a sinister chuckle as he snapped with his fingers, cutting the lights in the room on. By the door behind Sora was a very strong and sturdy-looking man who had a chin that looked as if it were made of iron; ready to pound on whatever unfortunate soul got in his path of destruction.

"Or else I'll have my personal KLFCSP bodyguard attend to you."

The viciously grotesque bodyguard punched into his palm, and Sora could have sworn he heard a couple knuckles break. Not crack…BREAK.

Sora gulped out of fear. He had to admit, it was pretty terrifying. "Well, what's the challenge?"

"Simple—I challenge you, Sora Hikari, to an after school basketball game!"

Awkward silence ensued, but it wasn't long before Sora busted into laughter.

"What's so damn funny, Hikari?!"

"You want to challenge me to a basketball game? You're joking, right? No? Okay, then. I accept your challenge."

"Excellent. I'll be seeing you on the court later on."

"Ha. Will do!" This was going to be a cinch for Sora. His basketball I.Q was off the charts, and he could squash a dork like Istuki any day of the month. He didn't even have to prepare, he'd just wing it for tonight.

"Be in the school's gymnasium at five o' clock tomorrow with your ten players. I'll have mine, and we'll see who the better man is!"

"Which is like—most obviously me, but I'll let you fantasize a little longer." Sora couldn't stop cheesing. He felt as if he lucked out; getting challenged to a basketball game by arguably the biggest loser he's ever beefed with.

"Arrogant, aren't you? We'll see who's laughing after I've become the one and only winner of Kairi's hand in a battle of skill, wit, integrity, and most importantly—"

"Yeah yeah, whatever. What's the prize we're playing for?"

"Are you retarded? We're playing for Kairi, you nimrod! If my team wins, Kairi will have to become the KLFCSP mistress! Ooh, I'm getting tingly just thinking about such a fantasy!"

A mistress? What kind of freak is obsessed with a girl so much that he rather her be his mistress than his girlfriend?

"Okay, fine. Whatever. And if I win, I get to keep Kairi as my girlfriend. Deal?"

"Deal." The two shook on it to confirm agreement. Sora was feeling overly confident about the whole situation. Normally he wouldn't bet on Kairi for the world, but basketball? This was hook, line, and sinker.

"Now, Brick—" Istuki was referring to the scary bodyguard. "Give our Mr. Hikari a special treat."

The bodyguard—apparently labeled to the beautifully creative and tongue twisting name of "Brick"—grabbed Sora from behind and began squeezing the feeling out of Sora's inner components.

"AGH! What the hell, Istuki!"

"Just a taste of what's to come if you decide to ditch tomorrow afternoon."

A taste? Sora dared not disobey to find out what the full course meal was!

"I'll come, I'll come! Just lemme go!"

Sora was feeling pain beyond imagination. He felt his breath slowly begin to run out before he could hardly exhale any longer.

**BOOM! **The door busted open.

"KISARAGI!"

In came Ms. Deus ex machina herself. Yuffie used both feet to pound on Brick from behind, it was a blow hard enough to weaken his grasp on Sora. Once she landed, the raven-haired girl did a leg sweep, knocking Brick down to the shiny marble floor below. She caught Sora as he fell as well, and held him bridal style.

"Yuffie?"

"SHUT UP, MAGGOT!"

"Well, that was rude…"

"Sorry, I was kind of in the moment. I always get like that when I'm in Badass mode."

Sora chuckled. Since when did she have a "Badass" mode?

Yuffie jumped over Brick's abnormally large physique as he lay on the ground and she hustled back into the hallway, where she set Sora down onto the floor once they were out of hindsight of Istuki.

"Yuffie, how'd you know where to find me?"

"The tracker I put on your back when we first met." She showed him the compass that had a red dot flashing on it. "You're wearing the same jacket you had on when we first met."

"I sure did luck out, didn't I?"

Yuffie put her compass away. "We should get to class."

Sora rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, you're right. I'll lead the way."

Sora began walking up the stairs to get to the next floor; the fourth floor.

"Hey, Yuffie…I think I'm gonna need your help."

"Yeah? What's the prob?"

"Do you know anything about basketball?"

"As in…can I play basketball?" Sora nodded. "Sure I can. I used to play with the boys in the park when I had nothing else to do."

"Wow, you must be pretty good!"

Yuffie shrugged. "I guess so."

"How about we play a little game of basketball after school tomorrow? You'll be on my team, okay?"

"Sure, but what's all this for?"

"Istuki challenged me to a basketball game. If I lose, Kairi will have to break up with me and become the mistress of her fan club."

"That's terrible!"

"I know—which is why I need your help."

"No, what's terrible is that you're betting with Kairi as the prize! Women aren't objects to be won, you dick!" Yuffie kicked him in the shin.

"OW! Hey!"

"Fine, I'll help you out."

"Huh? Oh right…yeah. Think you can help me recruit some people who can be of use?"

"Sounds fun, actually! I'll do my best!"

* * *

"You want us to what?" asked Tidus.

"I need you to be on my team. Honestly, it's not too difficult to grasp," said Sora.

Sora was currently in gym class. The students were on break so they had just been lounging around for the last few minutes. Sora had confronted Tidus and Wakka to try and get them to join his team.

"Sure, I guess, but what is this for?" asked Wakka.

"I got to beat this nerd from Kairi's fan club. Seriously, no life. No life at all."

"Who's on the team so far?"

"Just me and Yuffie—"

"Yuffie's on the team?" Tidus cuts in bitterly. Tidus hoisted Wakka down to him by scrunching on the collar of his shirt. "We're going on the team, man! We're _going!" _

"Chill, dude!" Wakka said as he tugged his best friend off of him. "Fine, we'll play some B-ball tomorrow. Just make sure you get some good players. I don't wanna be on a team with a bunch of people who don't know what they're doing."

"Don't worry about it," Sora assured. "We'll meet up over by the park after school to practice today. Be there, or be square."

Tidus gave him the 'really?' look and Wakka just slapped his forehead.

"Be there or be square? Really, dude?" said Tidus.

"Just be there."

A loud whistle rung in Sora's ear. "Break time's over, Hikari! Let's move, move, MOOOOOVVVEE!" yelled Cid. Cid had been giving Sora hell ever since he started hanging around Sora's place. Luckily he declared to be almost finished with Yuffie's room this morning, so Sora wouldn't have to deal with him as much anymore.

* * *

Kairi was making her way to class. Next period was Japanese Lit., a class she unfortunately did not share with her beloved Sora. Nonetheless, she entered the classroom anyway.

When she made her way inside, she found a sight that made her froze in her tracks. Sitting in the front row was Neku Sakuraba, her old boyfriend. He was dressed in the school uniform so it meant he was back.

"NEKU?!" she exclaimed.

Neku peered his lazy eyes to the female who had yelled his name, and gave her a smirk. "Hey, Kai."

Kairi was stunned. Here was her old boyfriend who had been rumored to have left the school last year, and he didn't even say goodbye. He left school a week after they got together, and she assumed he left because of her. Now he was back, and she didn't know how to feel or what to say. Should she be mad? Upset? Happy? She needed answers!

Kairi paced her way to him slowly, as if he were a ghost or a dead body. "Where…" she then remembered, he left without a word. The only emotion to properly condone was anger. She whacked him in the shoulder.

"Ow! Not cool…"

"What the heck happened to you? You totally ditched school and left me in the dust without a word!"

"If you'd let me explain my situation before displacing my shoulder, maybe you'd understand the reason for my disappearance."

The classroom door shut and in came Mr. Squall Leonhart, the Japan Literature teacher. "Why are you not in your seat, Kairi?"

Kairi smiled at him sheepishly and made her way to her seat in the back.

Mr. Leonhart was acclaimed to be the sexiest male teacher in the school, despite the mysterious scar in between his eyes. The girls would _love _to have a Saturday detention him.

"Okay class, there won't be anything too crazy going on this period. Just get out your books and open up to page thirty six and do numbers five through twelve."

A student raised their hand. "Can we work with partners?"

Mr. Leonhart knew good and well that 'working with partners?' was just a translated excuse for 'can we talk to each other and only get like one problem done every ten minutes?', but he didn't really care. "Sure, you may have up to two associates, but only two."

The class started scurrying to group with their friends. Yuffie happened to share this class with Kairi, and she ran up to her with a book in hand. "Hey, Kairi! You wanna work together?"

"Sure, follow me," she said as she quickly made her way up to Neku. Kairi and Yuffie pulled up chairs and sat with him at his desk. Neku expected as such, and continued to scan the words in his books, as if he wasn't paying them any attention.

"Hello?" asked Kairi irritatingly.

"Yes?" he said nonchalantly.

"Explain to me where the fu—heck you went!" The school had a strict policy for swearing and Mr. Leonhart was sitting at the desk behind them.

"Calm down," the boy assured.

"Hiya, Neku!" said Yuffie.

"Hey," Neku responded, remembering Yuffie from the other day.

"Wait, you two know each other?"

"You gots some esplainin' to do, pal!" Yuffie said to Neku.

"Fine, you want to know where I went, Kai? I'll tell you."

"Please do."

Neku cleared his throat. "So basically, your stupid little fan club trapped me inside their computer program, Space Paranoids. I was stuck in there for months and they spread a lousy rumor in the school that I transferred."

Kairi's mouth was ajar. "What?" That was probably the worst lie she had ever heard, it was uncanny that it was the same thing Sora told her. "You expect me to believe you?"

"You don't have to," he said as he cracked his fingers, "but I have an eye witness." He gestured to Yuffie.

"Kairi, he's totally telling the truth. I was there; I was in Space Paranoids with Sora. Didn't he tell you about it?"

"Well, yeah, but I thought he was just being silly."

"He wasn't. Istuki trapped me and Sora in there too, I can tell you first hand that it's all real."

"That's crazy, are they that obsessive over me? That's—" Kairi put on a sweet smile. "That's kinda nice…"

"Kinda nice? I was trapped in there for months!" said Neku.

Yuffie rolled her eyes at Kairi. "Don't flatter yourself. Sora and I are trying to put them down. Matter of fact," she eyed Neku. "Can you play basketball?"

That was a random question. "Uh, sure."

"Great! Be at the park after school today! We got work to do!"

Kairi and Neku shared confused glances. What could Yuffie possibly want to do at the park?

"Kairi, you should come too!"

"Why?"

"Okay listen, there's going to be a big basketball game tomorrow after school with Kai Kai's fan club, and we need people who can play. The deal is, if Sora's team wins, he gets to stay with you, but if he loses, you have to be the KLFCSP mistress."

Kairi's eyes widened. "I have to WHAT!?" Kairi gritted her teeth in rage, not believing what she had gotten into despite not doing anything. "Sora, that idiot! Why would he bet on something like that?!"

Yuffie shrugged. "He's so confident in his basketball skills that he thinks it'll be a piece of fry."

"You mean cake?" Neku asked.

"Same difference."

Kairi forgot that Sora was a prodigy at basketball. Yeah, that was right. Why was she getting so tensed up? Sora could handle a dork like Istuki any day.

"So, Neku, you in?" asked Yuffie.

"To put down the KLFCSP? Anything. Count me in."

"That's super!"

Kairi hummed thoughtfully. "Hm, I think I can get my older brother to help out, too."

"That's perfect!"

"Yuffie, just make sure I don't end up having shitty teammates," Neku said as he crossed his arms.

Yuffie scowled at him. "_I'm _one of your teammates, you dick!"

"So Yuff," Kairi interrupted, "who else do we have on board so far?"

"Actually, I don't really know. All I know is that so far it's me, Neku, and Sora. But maybe Sora got somebody else, I don't know. We'll just have to see at lunch."

"I think I can get Beat to join, too," said Neku thoughtfully.

"Excellent!" Yuffie replied while clenching a fist full of determination.

* * *

Hayner and Olette were on their way to the cafeteria, it was lunch time. Their hands were interlaced and Olette was obviously pondering something, her index finger pouncing on her dainty chin.

"Should we go to the Science center tomorrow on Friday?"

Hayner mentally groaned. He hated it when Olette wanted to go to the science center, but he knew how much it meant to her, and he'd go through with it for her sake.

"We can go wherever you want to, sweetie," Hayner responded. He always tried his best to not act grumpy around Olette. When school was out and they were alone, Hayner would usually be in a much better mood, but he hated school and would always act like a douche. "But wouldn't you rather go to my place? We can try out those new Trojan condoms I got the other day," he said with a smirk.

"Trojan condoms suck. Besides, I don't want us to have sex _every _weekend, because sooner or later, the sex will get stale. We're having amazing sex right now, and I don't want to rush it and end up having terrible sex. Besides, I feel like stimulating my brain this weekend."

Hayner sighed. If anything needed "stimulating", it was his dick. But he wasn't going to cheat on Olette because of it.

An arm snaked around Hayner's shoulders. He thought it was Pence at first, but it ended up being Sora, with an unconvincing grin on his face. "Hey buddy!" said Sora.

"Uh, hey," said an uncomfortable Hayner.

"Excuse us, Olette," Sora said as he tugged Hayner into the boys' bathroom.

"What the hell, man?" asked Hayner.

"I need your help. I need you to be on my basketball team and help me win a game against a bunch of shit fuckers!"

Shit fuckers seemed clever in his head, but when it came out of his mouth, Sora cringed.

"A basketball game? Sorry man, I don't do sports."

"I had a feeling you'd say that. That's why I got you this…" Sora pulled a bag full of marijuana in it and flaunted it in Hayner's face.

"Weed? Why would you do that to me? I'm trying to cut clean! Olette said she wanted me to!"

"C'mon, what's one more smoke gonna do? It won't kill you."

"Where'd you get that?"

"From Zexion." Zexion was a drug dealer who sold weed to a few students. Not many students smoked weed in the school however, so most of his dealing took place outside of the school. "I know you can't resist…"

"Grr, okay! But just for the record, this is my last time smoking pot! Gimme!"

Sora pulled the bag back and wagged his finger, a teasing smile on his face. "Ah ah ah! First, you gotta help me win this basketball game."

"Whatever, man! But if you don't give me that fucking bag of weed," Hayner pulled out a switchblade, his eyes looking possessed at the moment.

"Heh heh heh…" Sora nervously chuckled. "Maybe you should just take the marijuana."

"Yeah, maybe I should."

Sora dropped the bag of grass in Hayner's palm. Sora could have sworn he saw a tear in Hayner's eye.

"It's…it's beautiful…" Hayner placed the bag in his pocket and ran out of the bathroom, leaving Sora alone. Sora had never seen Hayner act so weird, but he wasn't too surprised. Hayner was an alleged pothead. Sora picked up his backpack and made his way to the cafeteria.

Sora got his food and sat down at the table, sitting there was everybody…including Neku?! And he was sitting next to his girlfriend! Sora ran up to the table and gave Neku a glare. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Sitting," Neku responded.

"But that's where I sit!"

"Chill," said Neku.

"Sora, just sit over there," Kairi said as she pointed across the table, there was an empty chair lounging around next to Pence. Sora was surprised; didn't Kairi want to sit with him? Don't tell him that she preferred Neku already. And since when did he start going to the school again? Today, he supposed.

Sora dragged his feet over to the chair and placed his buttocks on the blue surface. Sora slouched on his palm and watched in annoyance as Kairi giggled at whatever Neku said. The KLFCSP was bad enough, but now he had Neku to deal with getting in the way of him and Kairi's relationship.

Neku was even worse than Kairi's fan club because he was an actual _threat._ He had already been out with her, so obviously Kairi had the potential to like him. Plus, he was already receiving looks from some of the other girls in the cafeteria. Yuffie skipped up behind her brother and sat next to him.

"RECRUIT CALL!" she yelled in his ear, snatching him out of his zone. "So, who did we get so far?"

Sora gave her a frown as he tried to get the feeling back in his ear drum. "I got Hayner, Tidus, Wakka, and I'm gonna ask Roxas to come help us out, too. Who'd you get?"

"I got Kairi to ask Axel, and Neku. He's also gonna get Beat."

"Neku?!" said Sora immediately. "No way am I having him on my team!"

"Do you want to win or not?"

Sora sighed. He supposed if he had to get the KLFCSP off of his back, he'd go through it. "Fine."

Sora still wasn't too keen on Neku. What if Kairi decided to get back together with him? She was with him first anyway, and they never got to officially break up. So did that mean that _technically _they were still together?

No! Sora was just being silly at this point, he and Kairi were together and that was it, right? She wouldn't dump him. She told him that she loved him!

Besides, being jealous was pathetic. He didn't want to be another Riku; he didn't want to cause problems. He trusted Kairi, and he knew she wouldn't break up with him for someone else, nor would she cheat on him. Sora sighed in relief; he knew that he was right.

"Okie dokie, so that's me, you, Neku, Hayner, Tidus, Wakka, Axel, and Beat. That's eight people, Sora, we need ten."

She was right. They needed more people. Sora turned to his left and found Pence eating his sandwich. "Hey, Pence, wanna play basketball tomorrow with us?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm not very goo—"

"Great! I'll see you at the park with us later on, champ!"

Pence was about to say something else, but he figured there was no point in arguing.

"That's nine people…I guess I can get Roxas to come, too."

"There we go! That's ten people. Now we're cookin'."

* * *

Sora, Kairi, and Yuffie met up at the bus station later on. Kairi seemed to be in a rather distasteful mood; she wouldn't look at Sora or respond to his kisses. He kissed her, but she didn't kiss back.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"Suck my dick," she responded.

"Now what did I do wrong?" asked Sora annoyingly. It seemed that ever since he and Kairi hooked up, their relationship had been nothing but a chain of disappointments from Sora. First, Kairi was pissed off at him for the way he asked her out, and then she was pissed at him for "lying" about the KLFCSP, now she's mad at him for who knows what?

Kairi ignored Sora.

Yuffie felt tension coming from the two and decided to try and not say anything. Fortunately, the bus arrived and the three made their way home. Kairi sat behind Sora and Yuffie, not wanting to sit next to her idiotic boyfriend at the moment.

"Hey, Sora, I just realized, we need someone to be coach."

"I guess I could—"

"I'll do it," Kairi interrupted. "This game is going to determine a lot on my life, so if anybody's going to be making sure all goes well; it's going to be me." The way Kairi said it sent shivers down Sora's spine. He had a feeling the venom in her tone was directed at him.

Now he understood why she was mad, it was because he was risking losing her over a dumb basketball game. She must have felt that she wasn't worth much to him; which was entirely untrue. He had to explain himself.

"Kairi…" Sora began, but then the bus came to a stop.

"We're here!" Yuffie said. "Come on, let's go get Roxas!" Yuffie grabbed Sora's hand and sprinted out of the bus.

"Whoa! I-I'll meet you at the park!" said Sora as Yuffie dragged him out of the bus.

Kairi didn't respond, she just got up from her seat and strutted herself to her house.

* * *

Sora was dressed in a basketball jersey and some shorts. He picked up the ball that laid on the blacktop and spun it on his finger. "Alright, now who here knows anything about basketball?" he asked.

Everyone was at the park. Yuffie, Axel, Tidus, Wakka, Neku, Beat, Rhyme, Selphie, Olette, Naminé, Hayner, and Pence were all standing in a row.

Selphie raised her hand. "Ooh! Pick me! Pick me! Me! Me!"

Sora pointed to her. "Yes, Selphie?"

"Mr. Hikari, you look really cute in that outfit!"

Sora sighed and slapped his forehead. "That doesn't have anything to do with basketball, Selph. And please, just call me Sora."

Selphie saluted. "Whatever you say, your royal sexiness!"

Sora decided to let that one go. "Anyway, how about we just do some drills?"

Axel took an obnoxiously loud sip out of his drink. "How the hell did Kairi convince me to do this? I hate basketball."

"You're really tall, Axel. All you're going to need to do is grab rebounds."

"Fine, just don't expect me to be enthusiastic about this shit." Axel walked up to Sora and whispered in his ear. "By the way, where's your brother at?"

"Uh—why?"

"Oh, no reason. But he's coming, right?"

"Yeah."

Axel 'eeked' like a pathetic fan girl, and he made his way back to the row of players. Sora decided not to dwell too deeply on that.

Soon, Roxas came sprinting up to Sora in his Scottie Pippen jersey.

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Sorry, I couldn't find anything to wear."

Yuffie raised her hand.

"Yes, Yuffie?"

"Sora, Tidus keeps looking at me!"

"I was not!" Sora gave him an unconvinced look. "Okay yeah, I totally was. Can you blame me though? Yuffie is smoking hot!"

Yuffie rolled her eyes.

"Okay, Roxas, get in line with everybody else, and Tidus, stop raping Yuffie with your eyes. Alright, people, let's start with those drills!" A loud whistle sounded. "Ack! Son of a bitch, who the hell blew a whistle?!"

"I did!"

Everybody turned around to see that Kairi was dressed in a pink golf shirt and some khakis, around her neck was a whistle tied to a string, and she had on glasses for some strange reason. "I'm going to coach you lousy rascals, whether you like it or not."

Kairi began pacing closer to Sora as if she were a supermodel, but the look on her face was not very pleasant. Everybody got out of her way; they were all intimidated by her presence. She looked like she was of higher authority. Actually, yeah, she was.

Kairi walked up to Sora and scowled at him.

"Oh, right—Kairi, I never got to explain—"

"GET IN LINE YOU FREELOADER!"

"Yes, sir!" Sora declared as he made his way into the line, he was in-between Yuffie and Tidus. Tidus smirked at Sora.

"Looks like we all know who the dominant one in you guys' relationship is."

"Shut up. That's why Yuffie doesn't even want your Paris Hilton ass."

Yuffie peered her head over to Tidus. "Yeah, I really don't."

Damn, Tidus couldn't think of a comeback. Kairi started eyeing her players as if they were her prey.

"Alright you assholes, we have to win this motherfucking game. If we don't win this motherfucking game, I'm going to have to be in charge of a bunch of perverted bastards that are obsessed over me; you can all thank Sora for this."

Everyone gave Sora a frown.

"What?" he said in defense.

"But I'm not going to let my stupid boyfriend ruin the rest of my high school career nor my social life, so we're _going _to win this game, we're _going _to go to that school, and we are GOING to KICK—SOME—ASS! NOW WHO'S WITH ME?!"

"WOOOOOOOOO!" everybody cheered for Kairi's speech, even though she was acting nothing like her usual self.

"By the end of the day, we'll see how the starting lineup will be, now get out there and play some basket fucking ball!"

"Sir yes sir!" everyone said in unison. All of the players got onto the court and started shooting. Kairi walked up to Selphie.

"Alright Selph, you get to be our leading cheerleader."

"Ooh, goodie! Are you going to cheerlead with me, Kairi?"

"Uh, no," Kairi gestured her coaching outfit, "clearly not."

Selphie pouted but she understood. She turned around to the remaining females. There was only Naminé, Larxene, Rhyme, and Olette.

"Okay girls! Looks like it's up to us to be the best cheerleaders ever and help bring our team to victory! So let's go out there and do our very best!"

Rhyme didn't respond, she found Selphie to be kind of intimidating, Naminé tried prying her eyes away from Selphie, not really wanting to be a cheerleader, Olette wasn't paying attention, she was reading a book, and Larxene just didn't give a fuck, she was just looking at her fingernails while chewing on bubblegum.

"Ugh, do we have to?" asked Larxene.

"Come on, you guys! Where's that spirit at?" Selphie walked up to Naminé and put her face towards her own. "You have to be a winner!" She patted Rhyme on the head. "You have to be a go-getter!" Selphie pointed accusingly at Larxene. "You have to be enthusiastic!" She took Olette's book away from her and held it high in the air.

"Hey!" she cried.

"And you can't be a nerd! I'm going to turn you girls in first class cheerleading experts, now who's with me?!"

"Yay…" they all said unenthusiastically.

"Great! Whelp, we won't be needin' this!" Selphie said as she tossed Olette's book into the trash.

"Selphie!" Olette ran up to the trash can and looked down into it. The book had now been covered by black slush and horse flies were circulating all around it. There was no way in hell she was going to pick that up. She looked at Selphie. "Selphie, that was a good book!"

"Man up, will you? How are you supposed to cheer if your eyes are locked inside of a boring book?"

Sora shot up a mid-range bucket. Roxas passed Sora the ball back and Sora shot again, once again making the shot. Sora had a good jumper.

"You think we'll be able to win this thing, man?" asked Roxas.

"Oh, for sure! Trust me, Kairi's fan club is full of a bunch of losers, there's no way they'll beat us."

Kairi walked on the court. "Okay, is everybody all warmed up?" They were. "Alright, we're going to play a scrimmage so that I can scout who's going to be in what line in the rotation. The teams will be: Roxas, Axel, Tidus, Wakka, and Hayner up against Pence, Neku, Beat, and Yuffie."

"But that's four on five," said Pence.

"Yeah, coach, you didn't put me in the game," said Sora.

"Sorry Sora, but you'll be giving me one thousand sit-ups instead."

"A thousand?!" No way! He knew Kairi was mad at him, but not _that _mad.

"You got a problem with it?!" Kairi said, adjusted her glasses to give him the evil eye. Sora sighed as he dropped his head.

"No sir…"

Sora trudged himself over to a secluded area and began doing his sit ups. Next thing he knew, Kairi had placed her heel on his stomach. He looked at her as if she were insane.

"What are you looking at? Get started."

Sora sighed and proceeded doing his sit-ups. Kairi was taking this way out of hand, but he had to admit, seeing Kairi act so dominant was kind of turning him on.

As she rested her heel on Sora, Kairi began scouting the scrimmage.

Everybody was sweating, that was a fun, yet tough scrimmage for everybody. Sora was sweaty as well, of course, for an entirely different reason.

Kairi sat at the bench while everybody else sat on the grass to catch their breaths. Kairi started looking at her clipboard. "Okay, I have the rotation set up."

Everybody's head perked up.

"Well, come on, tell us!" said Tidus excitedly. Sora sighed. He knew that he wasn't going to be a starter, not with the way Kairi had been treating him.

"Okay, at Point Guard, Sora Hikari."

Sora's eyes widened. "Kairi, you mean it?"

"Shut up! Nobody gave you permission to speak!"

"Yes sir—"

"QUIET!" Everybody giggled. Yeah, Kairi was definitely the dominant one. Kairi resumed stating the rotation. "Anyway, starting Shooting Guard will be Roxas. Starting at Small Forward, Yuffie. Starting at Power Forward, Wakka. And starting at Center, Axel."

"Wait a second, I'm not in the starting lineup?" asked Tidus. "How the heck did Sora get in the starting lineup, anyway? He didn't even play today!"

"That's none of your concern. I have my reasons. Now, let me go over the bench players. Tidus, you'll be sixth man."

Tidus pouted over being sixth man. He hated coming off the bench.

"Hayner, you'll be seventh man, Neku, you're eighth. Beat, you're at ninth and Pence…"

Pence popped his head up. "Yeah?"

"How should I put this lightly," Kairi tapped her chin, "yeah, you kinda suck balls at basketball, so unfortunately, you'll be tenth man. Don't take it too hard, though, I've seen much worse."

"Right…" he said. Poor Pence, but he really did suck. That really was the lightest Kairi could have put it.

"Alright, guys, I want you guys to give me 110% tomorrow at the game. I want each and every one of you to put your heart and soul into this game, or else I'll have to be a fucking mistress, again, thank you Sora."

"I'm sorry, okay? Jeez!"

"I won't stand for mediocrity out on that court, I want no mercy! I want you guys to be fearless and brutal against these guys? Are we clear?"

"Sir yes sir!" everyone said in unison.

"Alright, you're dismissed."

Everybody started gathering their things to start heading home. Axel walked over to Roxas as he was getting his towel. "Hey, Roxas."

"Oh, what's up, Axel?"

"Just wanted to say you looked really hot out there in that scrimmage."

Roxas' eye twitched. What the hell did he just say?

"What?" Roxas stuttered.

"You looked really hot out there, so I got you this water bottle." Axel handed him a bottle of water that had drips of liquid creasing down its edges.

Oh, okay. Axel meant he looked hot, not that he looked _hot. _What a relief. Roxas took the water bottle. "Oh, thanks man."

"No problem, anytime," Axel then mumbled, "you sexy piece of ass…"

"Huh?"

"Nothing!"

Sora caught up with Kairi, who was walking home with Naminé at her side. "Look, Kai, can we just talk things out?"

"Naminé, can you tell Sora that there is nothing needed to say about his reckless actions and decision makings, and that he better be on his A++ game tomorrow?"

"Sora, Kairi said that there is nothing needed—"

"I heard her. Listen, Kai, I just wanted to say sorry about everything. But the only reason I accepted his challenge was because I wanted to—"

"Nam, could you please tell Mr. Hikari that I don't give a crap why he accepted the challenge, it's just the fact that he _did _is what really hurts and that I'm not talking to him next week?"

"Sora, Kairi said that she doesn't give a crap—"

"I fucking heard her Naminé!"

He could tell that Kairi wasn't in the mood to talk, so he decided to leave her alone and stopped walking, allowing Naminé and Kairi to pace in front of him. Roxas placed a hand on Sora's shoulder, a goofy grin on his face.

"Cheer up, bro! At least she put you in the starting lineup, so she can't be _that _mad at you."

"I guess so."

Yuffie ran up to them, dabbing on her forehead with her towel. "Yeah Sor, I'm sure she'll get over it. Let's just make sure we win that game tomorrow! Then she'll cool off."

"I hope you're right."

* * *

Sora and Yuffie went to school without Kairi this morning, since Kairi decided to leave early. Obviously she was still avoiding Sora, and Sora just wanted to find some way to make it up to her. But how could he do that when she wouldn't even allow herself to be within two feet of him?

Once Sora and Yuffie made it to school, they found that there were posters all over the walls and lockers advertising the basketball game after school today, courtesy of the KLFCSP.

"Great, now we're probably going to have a crowd," said Sora while looking at one of the posters. "As if I wasn't pressured enough…"

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Cheer up, already. I'm sure you'll be fine."

Sora rolled his eyes as well. That was such a 'good friend' answer for when they never had anything useful to say.

"Besides, you and Kairi's relationship will be fine. You're acting like she just found out you cheated on her or something. You didn't cheat on her, did you?"

Sora raised a brow. "Are you serious? I'd never cheat on Kairi."

"Good." Yuffie then wrapped an arm around Sora's shoulder, a sheepish smirk on her face. "Of course, if you _do _cheat on her, make sure you do it with me, okay?"

Sora chuckled, at least he had Yuffie. Yuffie always knew how to make him feel better. "I'll keep it under consideration."

Yuffie's face then turned serious. "Sora, I'm being totally serious. I want you to fuck my brains out."

* * *

Sora went through the whole day without saying a word to Kairi. What made it worse was how much fun she seemed to be having with Neku. He had just been praying that they weren't making arrangements of hooking up behind his back. He'd never forgive Kairi.

The team was in the locker room, they were all getting ready for the game, which was going to start in about five minutes. None of them had a uniform, so they all had to wear their gym clothes, which was a white shirt and red shorts, except Yuffie had short shorts on, while the guys had regular basketball shorts. They had to lend spare gym clothes to people who didn't attend their school like Roxas, Axel, and Beat.

Sora began stretching his limbs. "Oh, man…you guys ready?" he said to the group.

"You know it!" his sister replied. "It's gonna be a piece of fry!"

Hayner raised a brow at her. "You mean cake?"

"SAME DIFFERENCE!"

"I gotta be on my A-game for Naminé tonight!" Roxas said as he began tying his shoes.

Axel leaned against the lockers next to Roxas. "Hey Roxas, why are you with my little sister anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I dunno, I just think you could do better, that's all. By the way, I can't wait 'till we hit the showers." Axel winked at him. "Don't drop the soap."

Roxas shuddered.

Kairi came into the room; she was dressed in a white halter top, a tan blazer, tan slacks, and some black high heels. She was still sporting those glasses, and her hair was in a pony tail.

"Okay guys, go out there and show those losers whose boss! I don't want to be a mistress because you guys didn't step up to the plate, show me some brute, merciless, basketball!"

"Sir yes sir!"

"Put your hands down…" she said as she placed her hand in the middle of the air. Everybody did as told. "On three, we say, 'Sora's an asshole'."

"Wait what?" said Sora.

"One, two, three…"

"SORA'S AN ASSHOLE!" said everybody except for said asshole. Sora scowled at Yuffie, even _she _said it. Yuffie shrugged.

"What? This is kinda your fault, dude."

Sora sighed. Okay, yeah, maybe he deserved that.

"Alright, let's move!"

Everybody started jogging their way out to the court.

It was very lively out on the court, there was a full house. Everybody was waiting in anticipation for the game to start, even Mr. _Newburn _came, and he never came to these kinds of events.

Another notable entry to the crowd was Xion, since Sora had invited her. He called down to the mental institution last night and had them inform Xion, and she thought it would be fun to get some fresh air, even though it was not recommended by her doctor.

Aerith and Tifa were in the crowd as well.

"Wooo! Come on, let's get the game started!" Aerith screamed.

The cheerleaders, Selphie, Naminé, Rhyme, Olette, and Larxene all had on the cheerleader outfits Selphie designed for them last night. On the front, the name 'THE DESTINIES' was labeled. Apparently, that was the name of the team.

Selphie and Rhyme were jumping all over the place getting the crowd hyped for the game, even though there was no need to. Everyone was pretty excited as it already was.

Naminé was feeling pretty nostalgic. She felt like she hadn't been to her old school in a while, and she had been greeted by a lot of people who said they were missing her.

The bench lineup came walking out in a row, five on one side, and five on the other.

At the Announcers table was Terra and Zack, Roxas had got them to come along as the announcers for this game.

"What a game we have, huh Zack?"

"That's right, Terra Tear, tonight is a very important game for Ms. Kairi Lockhart. Her boyfriend, Sora Hikari, accepted the challenge from Istuki Harunada to be a part of this basketball game that will determine whose penis Kairi is going to suck."

Terra sweat dropped. "Actually, it's just going to determine if Kairi will either stay with Sora, or be the mistress of the KLFCSP, the Kairi Lockhart Force Club Salvation Program."

"Yeah, but I think the blowjob would be a much better prize."

"ANYWAY," said Terra, trying to avoid anymore rude comments from his partner, "Let's introduce the starting lineup for _your_ Destinies! Starting at Power Forward, Wakka Bradley Baker!"

Wakka came out from the back and gave the bench players high fives as he made his way. "Woo! We're gonna do our best, ya!"

"Starting at Center, as he likes to call himself, the Flurry of Dancing Flames, Axel Lockhart!"

Axel came out from the back. "Thank you, thank you! And I am NOT bisexual in any way possible. Just want to clear that out."

"Next up, starting at Shooting Guard, Roxas Hikari!"

Roxas came out following the procedure.

"Starting at Small Forward, she's the craziest cray cray of Strife Academy; Yuffie Hikari!"

Mysteriously, nobody came out after her name was announced, and an awkward silence made its way through the previously hyped crowd.

"KISARAGI!" screamed a voice from above. We all knew Yuffie had to do it big, and she came popping out of a cannon that she had on the balcony above, and started gliding down to the court, striking a pose.

Everyone was stricken by Yuffie's entrance, but a random guy in the crowd broke the silence. "That was awesome!"

Everybody agreed and they gave Yuffie a standing ovation, to which Yuffie bowed at. "Thank you, thank you! Really, you're too much!"

"What an entrance, huh Zack?"

"I'll say! Hey, Yuffie, can I have your number?"

Terra took the microphone away from Zack again. "Anyway, back to the Destinies. And now finally, your star player at Point Guard, leader of the Destinies, he is the boyfriend of Kairi Lockhart, Sora Hikari!"

Sora came out while chewing on some gum and did the traditional high fives with his teammates. He huddled up with the rest of the starters. "Alright guys, let's go out there and knock the KLFCSP outta town!"

"Right!" they all said in unison.

"But let's not forget to have fun out there too! You guys ready?"

"As we'll ever be, ya!" said Wakka.

Roxas put his hand down in the middle. "On three, Sora's an asshole?" He gave his brother a slight smirk.

Sora shook his head but smiled anyway. "On three," he said. Everybody put their hands down in the middle. "One, two, three…"

"SORA'S AN ASSHOLE!" said the starting lineup, including Sora himself. Kairi was surprised to hear them say that, and she noticed Sora jogging on the court, winking at her. Even though she was mad at him, she couldn't help but giggle. The players all walked up onto the court, looking determined as ever.

"And their opponents, the KLFCSP!"

Everybody in the crowd booed and hissed as the Kairi fan club was mentioned. Kairi's fan club came running out of their own locker room, but they had uniforms that had 'KLFCSP' labeled on the front. They even had cheerleaders, but they were all guys, and yes, they had on female cheerleading outfits, which grossed everyone out.

The male cheerleaders did a little dance. "The KLFCSP will gain power, as soon as we defeat Sora, Kairi will be ours!" they cheered.

Kairi was feeling sick in her stomach just _thinking _about being associated with those creeps.

Sora froze when he saw their starting lineup: Istuki was at Point Guard, Xigbar was at Shooting Guard, Demyx at Small Forward, Xemnas at Power Forward and Brick at Center. Brick gave Sora a mean look.

Everybody set themselves up, Axel and Brick took their positions.

"Xigbar, what are you guys doing playing with these guys?" asked Roxas.

"Sorry Roxas," said Xigbar with a smirk. "The creepy little dude with the glasses is paying us to be on his team."

Sora and Roxas sighed; they should have known it wasn't going to be too easy.

"I'm really sorry about this," said Demyx.

"No, it's okay Demyx, you just want to get paid. I understand but," Sora's eyes turned malicious. "I'm going to have to destroy you."

The referee blew his whistle. He nodded to the centers, who both responded with a nod to indicate that they are ready. The ref threw the basketball in the air and Brick tapped it over to Istuki, giving them the first possession. Let's get this show on the road.

Istuki smirked as he dribbled the ball down the court, where Sora began guarding him.

"Ready for us to pound you guys into the dirt, and then I stride off into the sunset with your female companion?"

"Grr!" Sora ripped the ball away from Istuki when he wasn't paying attention and ran down the court for the fastbreak. He didn't see Roxas coming down with him, but he did see Yuffie. He passed it to her. "Yuffie!"

Yuffie caught the ball and stopped; she jumped and shot the ball into the air. The ball creased through the net, giving the Destinies two points.

"Two points, first to score, Yuffie Hikari!" said Zack.

Sora and Yuffie started running back to get the defense set up and they shared a high five. "Nice shot!"

"Thanks!"

"WOO!" cheered Selphie while flailing her pom poms. "Go Yuffie, go Yuffie! Uh—Uh! Go Yuffie, Yuffie!"

Xemnas in-bounded the ball to Istuki. "Hmph, lucky shot," Istuki said. He took the ball down the court. He eyed his team, but nobody seemed to be open. He decided he'd just pass it to Xigbar, but that was a mistake, because Roxas snatched the ball like it was his.

Roxas sprinted down the court and found Sora running the break with him.

You know what that means.

Roxas tossed the ball into the air, and Sora caught it for the alley oop completion. The crowd cheered at the excitement.

Kairi smirked to herself.

Selphie, Rhyme, and Naminé were cheering. "Sora! Sora! Go Sora!"

Xemnas in-bounded the ball to Istuki. "Get your head in the game, Istuki!"

"Don't worry, I have a plan. Run the triangle."

Xemnas nodded and began running down the court.

Istuki wasn't fooling around this time; he did a bounce pass to Brick, who was cutting to the basket. Brick caught it and jammed it into the rim with a two-handed slam.

Zack and Terra winced. "Ooh, that was a nasty one!" said Zack.

Sora took the ball down the court. He decided he'd try to set someone up for a three-pointer, so he began driving to the rim. He drew the defense to him and he passed it out to Wakka, who was wide open in the corner.

Wakka caught the ball and shot it, but it missed. Brick caught the rebound.

Brick started sprinting his way down the court; he was very fast for someone as big as he was. He crossed just about everyone over on the other team, and he finished his coast to coast with a one-handed dunk on the other side.

"Nice one!" said Istuki as his team set up their defense.

"Damn it," Sora cursed. "That's bullshit that they got Brick on their team, anybody think they can shut him down?"

His teammates avoided Sora's gaze, none of them wanted to have to try and shut down Brick.

Sora sighed. "Gimme the ball."

Wakka in-bounded the ball to Sora. Sora dribbled down to the court.

"Come on, Sora! If you lose, I'll never forgive you!" Kairi said to her boyfriend.

While Sora wasn't paying attention, Istuki stole the ball away from him. He ran down the court and shot the ball for three. The score was now four to seven, team Istuki in the lead.

"Come on, Sor, we can't let these dicks beat us."

"I know, just don't pressure me…"

For the rest of the first quarter, it was a pretty lopsided game. Brick and Xemnas scored most of their team's points, and the first quarter ended with the score being twenty one to ten.

The disappointed starting lineup walked over to the bench. Kairi crossed her arms. "Okay, this isn't working out. You guys can take a rest. I want the next lineup to be the bench players."

"Finally!" said Tidus. "Finally, I get some action! Don't worry Kai Kai, I won't let you down, like _some _people." He was referring to Sora, to which Sora hissed at. "You know, if _I _were in the starting lineup, this never would have happened," he boasted.

"Get over it, Tidus," said the coach.

The bench players made their way onto the court. Tidus was at the Point, Hayner played Shooting Guard, Neku at Small Forward, Pence at Power Forward, and Beat at Center.

The ball was in the KLFCSP's possession. Demyx, Istuki and Xemnas decided to sit out, but Brick and Xigbar stayed in.

The PG (Point Guard) caught the in-bound. He dribbled the ball down the court and tried looking for the open man, but the ball was stolen by…by Pence! The acclaimed worst player on the team.

The crowd got hyped when Pence stole it, and they all cheered as he paced himself down the court.

Pence wasn't very fast though, due to his weight, and when he tossed the ball up for a layup, it was blocked on the backboard by Xigbar. "Get that mess outta here, son!"

Pence was knocked onto the ground. Xigbar ran down the court and tossed the oop up to Brick.

Kairi face palmed. "I'm totally going to be the KLFCSP mistress."

Hayner and Neku helped Pence up. "You alright, bro?" asked a concerned Hayner. Pence was one of his best buddies, after all.

"I'm fine, that was just a pretty big block."

Tidus came down the court. He passed the ball over to Neku, who did some pretty decent crossover moves on his defender, and he swiftly got past him. He passed the ball over to Beat, who was in the post. Beat caught the ball and began backing up against Brick. He turned around and did a pump fake, which Brick surprisingly fell for, and Beat tossed the ball up for the easy two points.

The crowd cheered. It had been a while since the Destinies had scored.

Of course, the KLFCSP scored right after that.

"Come on, guys! Where's that defense?!" said Kairi.

Sora and Yuffie were bored sitting on the bench. The game was still pretty lopsided. By the last minute of the second, the score was forty nine to twenty nine, they were down by exactly twenty points.

Kairi rolled her eyes as Neku got a turnover and Istuki's team scored another basket, putting them down by twenty two points.

"Timeout!" Kairi called.

The bench lineup walked back over to the bench, looking pretty shameful. Selphie put an understanding hand on Kairi's shoulder. Kairi sighed, trying to keep her cool. "Okay, we need to think of something. We're down by twenty two and we're about to go into halftime. Any suggestions?"

Nobody said anything; they were all too ashamed of themselves. They knew they were letting Kairi down.

"I think we need to just keep going with the flow. I mean, what can we do? We've all been doing our best," said Roxas.

"Fine," said Kairi.

The bench players walked back out onto the court.

It was their possession, so Tidus brought the ball down the court. He ended up crossing the PG over and sprinted to the hoop, he tossed the ball up for the layup, but it was blocked by, yep, you guessed it. Brick.

Istuki's team brought the ball down the court, where Xigbar dunked the ball into the net. That was the end of the third quarter and the game entered halftime.

The bench made their way back over to the team and they went into the locker room. Kairi was pissed. She was angrily rubbing her temples to try and keep calm.

Sora stood up from his seat. "Kairi…"

"Don't you 'Kairi' me! This is all your fault! We wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for you mindlessly accepting this challenge! On me, no less! I can't believe you would do something so stupid! Don't you care about me at all?!"

"Will you shut up?!" Everybody was taken aback by Sora's sudden anger. "Of course I care about you, Kai! Matter of fact, that was the reason why I accepted this challenge! Wanna know why I accepted it?"

Kairi crossed her arms. This she'd like to hear. "Why?"

"Because I wanted to prove to you how much you really mean to me by using all my power to help win this game, and never in a billion years will I let Istuki take you away from me. I love you."

Kairi had to admit, she was flattered.

"I want the starters to come out with me at the start of the third. I got us into this mess, and I promise I'll get us out of it." Sora went into his pocket and pulled out a trinket of his. He smiled at Kairi and placed it at his heart. "Remember this, Kairi?" It was the good luck charm she gave him when they confessed their feelings to each other. "You gave this to me."

Kairi was shocked. She didn't even know he still had it. She smiled. "I did, didn't I?"

"Remember what you said before? I'm always with you too." (Reference alert) "I swear, I'll make this right."

Kairi's eyes were teary at this point. She didn't know Sora was capable of being this sweet, especially in public. He couldn't care less; he just wanted Kairi to know how much he cared for her.

"Aww," Selphie cooed. "That's so sweet!"

Yuffie placed a hand on Sora's shoulder. "I'm with you all the way, Sor!"

"Yeah, we can do this!" said Roxas. "I'm with you, too!"

"Okay, let's go out there and play hard!"

"Yeah!" everyone else on the team said.

The start of the second half commenced. The starting lineup began walking out onto the court. Before Sora left, he got something from under his towel. It was the necklace with a crown pendent on the end that Kairi also gave him. He put it around his neck and kissed it for good luck, and then he jogged onto the court.

It was in Istuki's team's possession, and they had their starting lineup back in as well. Istuki dribbled in front of Sora's face.

"Don't choke, Hikari."

Sora gave him a dirty look. Istuki looked over at Kairi.

"Don't worry, my love! I'll dispatch you of this pathetic loser!" Istuki boasted.

Just then, Sora stole the ball away.

"Huh?!" said Istuki.

Sora sprinted down the court and jammed the ball in for two points, putting them down by twenty two. The crowd cheered, it looked like Sora was stepping up his game.

Istuki came back down the court, this time, Sora with the smirk on his lips.

"That was lucky," Istuki immediately said. He passed it over Demyx, who had Yuffie defending him. Yuffie gave him a seductive look.

"Hi," she said sexily.

"Hey…" Demyx trembled. Yuffie bent down and Demyx could see the crease in her cleavage. "U-Um…"

Yuffie then quickly patted the ball out of Demyx's hands and ran down the court. "Thank you!"

Yuffie ran down the court and threw up the alley oop to Axel, who did a windmill dunk for the finish.

The crowd was loving it, including Zack and Terra. "Nice one!"

"Seriously, Yuffie! Marry me!" said Zack. Yuffie wagged her finger at him playfully as she jogged her way back to the other side of the court.

This time, Brick decided to bring the ball down the court. His dribbling skills weren't too shabby, despite being a big man.

Brick tossed the ball over to Demyx, who tried not to get fazed by Yuffie's hotness and passed it over to Xemnas.

Xemnas was in the post, so he started backing down his defender: Wakka. He turned around for the fadeaway, but Wakka block it. Yuffie caught the rebound.

Yuffie passed it over to Sora, who was already down the court, and he did a no look, behind-the-back toss to the backboard, which bounced back to the trailing Roxas. Roxas, inevitably, dunking the ball down for the finished alley oop.

The cheerleaders cheered him on. "Roxie, Roxie! He's our man!"

"Roxie, Roxie! He's _my _man!" Naminé decided to emphasize.

As they made their way back to set up the defense, Axel slapped Roxas on the butt. "Nice shot, Rox."

Roxas looked at Axel as if he were insane.

Xigbar brought the ball down the court. He passed it to his left. "Demyx! Shoot!"

Demyx did as told, and he nailed the mid-range jumper.

Sora took the ball down the court and quickly did a spin move, but then he did a flashy pass back to Yuffie who just came off a pick, and she caught the ball.

Yuffie shot the ball up for three, which she splashed of course. Come on, she's fucking Yuffie.

"Woo! That's my girl!" said Tidus.

"In your dreams!" Yuffie responded.

Istuki wasn't enjoying himself much anymore. "Come on, guys! Let's score at least one damn point before the third ends!"

The rest of the third was just a highlight reel for the Destinies and a stack of turnovers for the KLFCSP.

The best moment of the third was near the end when there was only thirty seconds left. Istuki brought the ball down the court, and since his passing skills weren't working out lately, he decided to shoot the ball himself, but things can never be that easy, since it was a brick!

Wakka caught the rebound and tossed it down the court. Sora caught the ball near the hoop, but Istuki was in front of him, so he did a no look pass to Roxas, who was behind him. Roxas saw Yuffie coming up and he passed it to her, but when she caught it, she did a behind the back pass to Sora, who was open for three in the corner, which Sora shot for the buzzer beater. Bottoms!

That ended the third, and the score had been tied sixty eight. The Destinies made their way back to the bench and congratulated one another.

"That was awesome!" said Tidus.

"Yeah, you three make a great team!" said Naminé as she ran over to them, her pom poms in hand. She was referring to Sora, Yuffie, and Roxas. They were in unison on the court.

"Yeah, you guys make a great big three," said Beat.

"Guys, let's not celebrate until we get the job done," said Neku. "We still have another quarter left, and they're still a pretty good team, so we have to be on our toes and not let up."

"Who made you coach?" asked Axel.

"No, I agree," said the real coach, Kairi. "Let's save the celebrations for later. Right now, I want us to be fully prepared for the fourth quarter. Alright, I want the ball in Yuffie, Sora, and Roxas' hands most of the time out there, they seem to contrast well with Brick and Xemnas. Alright, now let's go out there and get that W!"

"Sir yes sir!"

The fourth quarter began and this time the lineup was Sora, Yuffie, Roxas, Beat, and Wakka. Axel needed a water break, so he had to sit out.

The five made their way onto the court, as well as Istuki's five, which were just their starters.

Istuki brought the ball down the court; he was all serious this time around. He crossed Wakka over and tossed the alley oop up to Brick, who did a reverse slam as the finish.

Sora and the rest of them weren't intimidated. As a matter of fact, they came down the court and threw up their own alley oop. Yuffie to Sora.

"S—Y—R! S—Y—R!" the crowd chanted in honor of the Sora, Yuffie, and Roxas connection.

Sora, Yuffie, and Roxas battled during the remainder of the quarter. When Sora and Roxas were on the break, Yuffie would always throw them the alley oop. Yuffie couldn't dunk, so she'd always give out the oops.

There was about forty seconds left in the fourth, and the KLFCSP had kept it very close. The score was eighty three for the Destinies, and eighty six for the KLFCSP.

Sora, Yuffie, and Roxas were exhausted.

Kairi called a timeout.

All hope seemed lost for the Destinies.

"Aw, man…how the heck are we supposed to win now?" said Rhyme.

"Yeah, if the KLFCSP get the ball, they'll just waste clock and if we foul intentionally, they're gonna make their free throws," said Axel.

"Yeah, he's right," said Roxas.

"Damn it, what do we do then?" said a frustrated Yuffie. She was working her ass off out there and she didn't want it all to be for nothing.

Kairi didn't think all was lost just yet though. She pulled Sora to the side.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"Okay, I have an idea. Next up will be our possession. I want you to try and score an easy layup, nothing fancy. Now, when the KLFCSP bring the ball down the court, they're obviously gonna go to Brick for the win. I want you to try and steal it, come back down and take your time, get the easy bucket. Think you can do that for me, sweetie?"

"Anything for you."

Kairi smiled at him. She took off her glasses and let her hair down. She wrapped her arms around her boyfriend and gave him a loving kiss. "I believe in you, asshole. Remember that."

Sora nodded. "I won't let you down, bitch."

The timeout ended. Roxas in-bounded the ball to his brother, which Sora brought down the court.

Sora did something a little sneaky; he came down the court, walking kind of slowly, but then he burst into speed very quickly and tossed the ball up for a layup, making the score eighty five to eighty six.

Istuki brought the ball down the court. He passed it over to Demyx, who inevitably passed it over to Brick, who was in the post. Sora smirked at how smart Kairi was.

Sora came up from behind Brick and patted the ball out of his hands. Brick was surprised by this and ended up falling onto the ground. Sora picked up the ball and jogged his way down to the other side of the court.

Sora looked around at his teammates. Yuffie and Roxas were being guarded closely, so it meant Sora had to take the game winning shot. There was only about seventeen seconds left.

Terra was commentating. "Seventeen seconds, folks! Seventeen seconds, and Hikari brings the ball down the court."

Sora started taking baby steps; he had Istuki guarding him very closely. Sora started driving down the lane, but he surprised everyone when he did a stepback. Istuki didn't see it coming and he ended up slipping.

"Hikari…open!" said Terra. Excitement aroused everyone in the air.

Sora had a good look at the hoop and he did his signature jumpshot. Suspense filled the atmosphere; it was as if the ball was in slow motion as everyone watched it go closer…closer…and closer to the hoop. Sora had his arm extended, watching in anticipation. Was he going to make it? If he missed this shot, it was over. There would only be five seconds left, and he would lose Kairi forever.

At the last second, the ball found the hoop, and it splashed into the net. It didn't hit the rim at all, it was all net.

The crowd roared with excitement, everybody was going crazy. Even Larxene and Olette were loving this!

"Destinies with the lead!" said Terra. The crowd was cheering with no signs of slowing down. "Score: eighty seven, eighty six!" The KLFCSP used their last timeout. The Destinies regrouped back at the other end and everyone gave Sora high fives and props, but the game wasn't over yet. There was still five seconds left, and Brick had the liability to score.

"Alright guys," said Kairi as the team huddled up, "there's still some time left on the clock, and Brick is unpredictable. I want Yuffie and Pence to double him up to make sure he doesn't get a good look at the basket. If we do that, we should be able to win this ball game."

"We got this Kai," said Roxas.

The timeout ended and everybody went back out on the court. Xemnas in-bounded the ball to Demyx. Surprisingly, they ended up not going to Brick for the game winner, but it didn't matter, because Demyx missed the three pointer, and the buzzer sounded, ending the game to a proper conclusion.

The crowd roared with enthusiasm.

"Ladies and gentlemen, here are your winners: the Destinies!" said Zack as he stood on the table.

Sora jumped in the air with excitement. The whole team ran up to Sora and started hugging him for dear life; they couldn't believe he made that clutch shot.

They hoisted Sora into the air, showing him off to the crowd. The crowd was going insane, that was one hell of a basketball game, and everyone was glad they came to see it.

Istuki sighed. "Oh well…" Once the team put Sora down, Kairi ran up to him and locked her lips with his; bringing him into a well deserved kiss.

"Sora, you're fucking amazing!"

Sora smiled. "I know!"

Istuki walked up to Sora and put his hand out, to which Sora looked at with caution. This wasn't another trick, was it?

But then Istuki did something Sora had never seen, he smiled. A genuine smile that was real, not those smirks he'd always pull off. "I said before that may the best man win, and well, Mr. Hikari, you are indeed the better man. That was an incredible finish. Kairi's lucky to have you."

Sora smiled back. "Thanks, man." And the two shook hands, something they thought they'd never do. After that, Istuki and his team left the building to allow the Destinies and the crowd to celebrate their victory.

Somebody tapped Sora on the shoulder. Sora turned around and found that it was Xion. "That was a great shot!" she said.

"Xion, I'm glad you could make it! Did you enjoy the game?"

"Of course I did!"

Sora smiled. "I'm glad."

Aerith came running up to Sora and hugged him for dear life. "SORA! OH MY GOD, THAT WAS SO AMAZING! OH, AND YOU LOOKED SO HANDSOME OUT THERE! WOW, YOU ARE SO GOOD!"

"MOM!" he said a little irritably.

Xion giggled.

* * *

Everybody was at the Hikari residence, basking in their victory. They were all sitting at the table in the living room, luckily it was just big enough to fit everybody, since there was a lot of people.

"That was so awesome! We kicked Kairi fan club booty out there!" said Yuffie. She downed her fruit punch drink. "Woo!"

"Yeah, that was really cool the way you finished it off like that, Sora!" said Rhyme.

"Thanks," said the basketball star, a sheepish smile on his face. He was getting a lot of praise for his closing game winner.

Roxas started fanning himself. "Man, is it just me, or is it really hot in here?"

Axel was staring at him dreamily. "It's just you…"

"Huh?"

"I like stew."

Roxas raised a brow. "Okay…"

Tifa and Aerith came in with the food. They set down, practically a thanksgiving feast for everybody. It was their way of celebrating the win.

"Everybody, dig in! Eat as much as you'd like!" said Tifa.

Didn't have to tell them twice, everybody started eating and chatting away. They were like one big happy family.

"Sora, Yuffie, come upstairs! I have a surprise for you!" said Aerith.

Sora and Yuffie exchanged glances. What could their mother have in store for them?

The two made their way upstairs, and they found Aerith waiting by the door to Yuffie's room. Yuffie gasped from shear excitement. "Is the room ready?"

"You bet it is!" Aerith opened the door, where Yuffie and Sora were greeted by a very beautiful room. There was a big queen sized bed with silky covers, the carpet was as smooth as could be, there were three hot pink dressers, an HD flat screen TV was mounted on the wall, and there was a laptop and a brand new cell phone laid out on a desk that had a clear texture. On the ceiling was a painting of Yuffie making a cute expression while making the peace sign.

Yuffie and Sora were in awe. They had never seen a teenage girl's room so…awesome!

"Do you like?" asked Aerith.

"I freaking love!" said Yuffie as she examined the rest of her room. Sora was mesmerized.

"Hey Yuffie, I think we should trade rooms."

"Not on your life!"

Yuffie plopped onto her bed, letting out a sigh of delight. "This is the best day ever!"

Sora and Aerith chuckled.

Yuffie ran up to Aerith and Sora and gave them a hug. "Thanks mom, Sora…for everything…I don't know where I would be right now if it weren't for you guys…"

"No need to thank us," said Aerith with a smile.

The three made their way down to the table. They joined the group and resumed feasting.

"I can't get over how amazing that game was! Seriously, you guys must be one of the best teams ever!" said Olette.

Tidus put up his glass. "A toast! We all worked hard, and in the end it paid off with the W! Now Kairi gets to stay with Sora, and we were all totally awesome out there!"

Aerith gave Sora an accusing smirk. "I knew it!"

Sora rubbed the back of his head. Now Aerith was never going to stop teasing him about him and Kairi's status.

"Now you know, mom, Kairi's my girlfriend."

"So that little scene yesterday morning…?"

"It was an act," he admitted. Kairi smiled at Sora and kissed him on the cheek.

"Here's to the victory for the Destinies!" said Tidus.

Everybody clashed their glasses with each other.

"Cheers!"

* * *

This is my V-Day gift for you all, even though it's three days late...sorry. Of course, it's Single Awareness Day for me this year :(

I need to get a boyfriend lol

By the way, Sora's game winner was a tribute to Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all-time!

And I'd really really really really appreciate it if you left a review, even if you don't like the story, because I'd like to know how I can improve. But if you do like it, leave some feedback please!


End file.
